Decisions Often Come With Consequences
by redheadedsweetheart
Summary: She cheated on Randy and left him for Mike. Who will she end up choosing in the end? Sequel to "The Hardest Decision." I suggest you read that one first. I had uploaded this story a while ago, but I wasn't happy with how it turned out, so I'm rewriting i.
1. A New Beginning

**A/N: Sadly, I own nothing except my original characters; everything here on out is a work of fiction. This is the sequel to "The Hardest Decision." I suggest you read that one first. I had uploaded this story a while ago, but I wasn't happy with how it turned out, so I'm rewriting it. Read, review and enjoy!**

**Decisions Often Come With Consequences: Sequel to The Hardest Decision**

**Chapter 1**

I can't believe it. I actually left Randy for Mike. Am I happy? I don't know, it's only been a couple of hours since the show ended and I left Randy standing in the ring trying to shoot fire at me with his eyes.

After me and Mike left the ring, we grabbed our shit and got the hell out of there before Randy could find us and beat the hell out of Mike. Lord knows what he would have done to me if he had got his hands on me. I didn't even want to think of it. I knew all about Randy's temper, I've seen it enough first hand to know that I don't want to be the cause of it or feel the end results, but he never laid a hand on me the entire six years we were together and he swore that he never would.

We decided to stay at a different hotel than the rest of the roster was at; it probably wasn't a good idea to go back to the one we were originally booked at. So we decided to book a room at a different hotel, one that no one would think to look for us at. I wasn't sure who was exactly going to be looking for us besides Randy, but Mike said that it was better to be safe than sorry. I also wasn't ready for the looks and whispers I was going to get because of my decision, and truth be told, Mike didn't want to get the holy hell beat out of him by Randy.

We had barely made it in the door when Mike started attacking me with his mouth and hands. Making love to him has never felt better now that I don't have to look over my shoulder for Randy. I can't believe that Mike told me he loved me yesterday. It hasn't even been a year since we started messing around, and we had never been serious. I'm not sure if we were even dating now, all I knew is that I was free. Do I love him back? No. I like him though; I'm willing to see where this goes. Do I still love Randy? I don't know. I haven't known if I still loved him for a long time now. I'm scared to have to have that inevitable confrontation that I know we're eventually going to have. I'm afraid of the harsh words he is going to have for me; he's always been very sweet to me—he did call me a bitch once, and I slapped him so hard, his cheek was red for two hours. He never called me another derogatory name again.

Mike was in the shower when I decided to check my phone messages. It's been blowing up since the "incident" on the show. Holy shit, I have 52 text messages—6 from Kait, 10 from my sister Abby, 5 from my stepmom, 2 from Mr. McMahon, 5 from my dad, 2 from John Cena for some reason, and 18 from Randy. I'm not ready to read Randy's yet, so I save his without reading them and plow through the rest. Nothing too exciting, mostly "What the hell are you thinking?"

The ones from John amuse me to no end

"Holy shit, girl!"

"I thought you were going to call me when you broke up with one of them!"

I shot him a message back "No it was when I broke up with both of them, you get you chance, Cena."

Mike is still in the shower. Good Lord, it's been like 20 minutes, how long does he need to be in there? No matter. I plug my laptop in and boot up my email. Shit. I either forgot to check it all day or this is the result of my decision on the show tonight—120 emails? I must have forgotten to check it all day.

I plow through the easy ones first—from the corporate office, then move on to the ones from my sister Abby, then the ones from co-workers—those weren't very fun today, usually there are some pretty good jokes, today, however, they are mostly questioning my sanity. I finally get to the last one and see it's from Randy. He sent it earlier this afternoon. Do I dare open it? I look over at the bathroom door, sill closed. Damn, he takes a long time. Must be doing his 'awesome' hair. That is what I like about Mike. He is so confident about himself, maybe some of that confidence will rub off on me and I can get to back to feeling like my old self again. Being stuck in a rut with Randy for six years made me feel like a different person; I wasn't the fun, outgoing young woman I was when I first started with the WWE. It's hard to explain, but I feel different now; I don't feel like myself.

I was just about to open the email, when I felt a pair of lips on my neck and hands playing with my hair. What a nice way to be interrupted, I thought to myself. I get out of the chair and stand next to him so I can get a proper kiss. Mike lifts me into his arms and carries me over to the bed. He doesn't waste any time pulling my shirt over my head. I push him away so I can rid of that burdensome towel. He kisses me, pushing me onto the bed. His lips move to my neck with his hand massaging my thigh. I run my fingers through his hair as his lips set my skin on fire.

Mike was getting ready to move our little make out session to the next level when my phone starts beeping over on the desk. "Leave it" he says, nuzzling on my neck.

"I can't. I've been ignoring it for almost two hours. I'm afraid it will explode with all of the people needing me right now!" I laugh, pushing him away from my neck.

"You and your damn phone" he mutters.

I pick up my phone to read the message, when there's a knock at the door. Really? Who can it possibly be? No one knows we're here, not even my sister Kait.

I shouldn't have opened the door. I really shouldn't have. I should have just went back to bed with Mike. Because when I opened the door, I was met with the coldest pair of steel blue eyes. Randy found me.

I couldn't believe it he was actually standing there. What the hell am I supposed to do now? I had planned on spending the night with Mike, then calling Vince in the morning, requesting some time off to regroup and figure out the next stage of my life and then fly back to Houston sometime tomorrow. I didn't know what Mike's plans were, and right now his plans weren't very important, what mattered right now was that my very recent ex-boyfriend was standing at the door with fire in his eyes and a smirk on his face. That smirk. That smirk could do two things to me—it could bring me to my knees with desire for him or it could scare the living daylights out of me; and right now it was doing the latter.

It felt like minutes had passed since I'd open the door, but it had only been a few seconds. Time was standing still as the night's events flashed through my mind. Randy in his match with John. Randy winning. Mike's music starting. My heart stopping and Kait telling me to remember to breathe. Mike confronting Randy in the ring. Those pictures of me and Mike flashing on the big screen. Mike's cocky smile. Randy's face crumbling in pain and then quickly switching to anger when he saw the picture of Mike licking my RKO tattoo. I headed out to the ring, not able to answer the questions that Randy shot at me, instead Mike answering for me. Mike showing Randy his souvenir of his wild nights with me. Randy punching Mike in the face. Kait's arm around me whispering that it would be ok. Mike kissing me on the cheek while looking at Randy. Mike enjoying the pain on Randy's face when we walked out of the arena together.

And now this. Randy staring at me with a mix of emotional turmoil and anger on his face.

He finally broke his stare away from me and looked down at his shoes. "Why?" he whispered. "I just want to know why, Linn."

I couldn't find the words to answer him. There were no words. I still didn't have a good reason why I had started cheating on him instead of just breaking up with him.

When it was obvious to Randy that I wasn't going to answer him, he grabbed my arm and pushed me against the wall in the hallway and shut the door. The smirk on his face was replaced with a sinister smile. I could hardly breathe as he kissed me on the neck softly and asked again, "Why? I gave you everything I had." His lips moving from my neck to my ear. "Anything you wanted or needed, I gave to you." His lips moving from my ear back to my neck. "I put up with so much bullshit just to keep you" His lips were moving from the right side of my neck to the left, his left hand moving up and down my arm, his right hand on the wall above my head, keeping me against the wall. I couldn't move; I was so scared that it felt like I was frozen against the wall.

"I would have done anything for you. Anything. All you had to do was ask." He pushed himself closer to me, his warm breath on my ear. "I wanted to marry you. Settle down with you. Spend the rest of my life with you." He bent down and kissed me softly on the lips. "But you threw it all away, Linn." He was cut off by Mike opening the door, us against the wall, enraged, Mike pushed Randy away from me.

I let out a sigh of relief as Mike finally came to my rescue.

The two men stared each other, slowly moving in a circle. A sinister smile appeared on Randy's face as he stared down Mike. He was silently begging Mike to hit him, to lay a hand on him. He wasn't going to throw the first punch, Mike had to.

"Hey! What the hell? Knock it off guys!" the three of us turned when they heard a voice coming from the other end of the hallway. It was John. John ran down the hall and immediately put himself in between Randy and Mike.

He turned to Randy, "Man, this is not the time or place for you two to be doing this. It's been a long day, Randy, let's just get in my car and head back to the hotel. You can deal with this some other time. Come on now." He started pulling at Randy's arm. Randy started to walk away. I let out another of relief that this fight was not going to happen tonight, Mike still had his right hand clenched in a fist, ready to attack Randy if necessary.

John was having mild success in getting Randy to leave us alone, when Randy stopped, got himself out of John's grip and walked over to me. Mike tried to stand in front of me, not knowing what Randy had on his mind. He pushed Mike out of the way and kissed me full on the lips. He whispered in my ear, "You made the biggest mistake, sweetheart. You belong with me, not him. Didn't your daddy ever tell you that sometimes decisions come with consequences?" He kissed me on the cheek, glared at Mike and walked away with John.

Mike put his arms around me; I immediately started crying after Randy walked away. I let Mike lead me back into the hotel room.

"I can't fucking believe that guy!" Mike said, pacing back and forth in the room. "You made your decision, I won, he lost, and he should just say 'ok' and walk away. He had no right coming here tonight! He's lucky Cena caught up with him…."

I was sitting in a chair watching Mike pace back and forth, not really listening to the words that he was saying. I was thinking about how fucked up this was, and how it wasn't going to get any better. If anything, the situation just got worse. I never didn't expect Randy to just roll over and take what happened tonight, just like I didn't expect Mike to say 'sorry' to Randy and hand me back over to him.

I had to leave. I had to go home and figure this mess that I suddenly had on my hands. I needed time to think. And I needed to be alone. For the first time in six years, I needed to be alone.


	2. Houston

**Chapter 2**

_Mike's POV_

I looked at the clock for what felt like the hundredth time that morning. It was still 5:15 am. I still haven't been to sleep. After Randy coming to our hotel room, I couldn't sleep. I kept worrying that he would come back again to try and convince Linn to get back together with him. I don't get what his deal is; I won, she chose me, he just needs to accept it. She told me after Randy left and she stopped crying, that she wanted to go home. She was tired. Tired of it all. I didn't exactly no what she meant when she said 'tired of all', so I was little concerned.

She finally laid down in the bed at three this morning after I convinced her that he wasn't coming back and that if she at least tried to sleep, her flight wouldn't be so bad tomorrow. I knew she hated flying.

I don't think she slept though. I've been watching her since 3:00. She started crying again at about 3:30, so I laid down with her with my arms around her. I hated it when she cried. I liked her a lot. A lot. So much that I even told her that I loved her. Maybe I do; I 'm pretty sure I do. I haven't met anyone else like her ever. She was different,

She drifted off at 4:00 finally, so I sat in the chair and tried to sort things out. I kept watching her sleep, she was so fucking beautiful, I still can't believe that she likes a guy like me. I love her auburn hair, the way its cut so it frames her beautiful face. I love her brown eyes, I love the way they get a darker brown when she's turned on, I love how they sparkle when she laughs, I love the way they look concerned when she's dealing with people at work. I love her mouth. Damn, did I love that mouth. The things I could put in that mouth….

I'm still surprised that she actually let me kiss her that first night, never mind that once she realized what she was doing, she drunkenly ran off into the night. I was even more surprised when she kept coming back to see me. I knew I shouldn't be doing this with a woman who had a serious relationship; but she was so unhappy, any fool could see that. Well, any fool except Randy Orton, that is.

Her phone was in the bathroom, I heard it go off again with a text message. She seriously never turns her phone off and it always lit up and beeping. It's been beeping for about half an hour now. I'm curious to know who it is, because it's almost 5:30 in the morning.

Her breathing is slow and even, so I assume she is asleep. I walk into the bathroom and pick her up phone. Shit, she's got 15 messages waiting for her. I put it back down on the counter; it's not my place to be reading her messages.

I had just put it down when it started ringing. I looked at the caller id and it said R. I feel that jealous feeling rising up in me. Why is he calling her this early in the morning? As a matter of fact, why is he calling her at all? What is it about she chose me that cannot understand? Should I answer it? Better not. I set it back on the counter and head back over to the bed and kneel on the floor beside her. Her eyes are open, and then they're closed, fluttering while she struggles to stay awake. Poor girl.

I run my hands through her hair and kiss her forehead. "What time does your flight take off?" I whisper in her ear.

She smiles that sleepy smile at me. Have I mentioned how much I love this woman's mouth? "7:30" she whispers. "Will you take me to the airport?"

"Of course. Are you sure you don't want me to come to Houston with you? You look rough. Are you sure you want to be alone right now?"

"Mikey, I haven't been home in almost two months. I'd love for you to come out, but I'd like to spend a day or two by myself. You're not mad are you?" she was biting her lip, looking nervous; I want to bite her lip. Seriously, have I mentioned how much I love her mouth?

"Why would I be mad? You do what you need to do and call me when you want me to come out." She leans over and kisses me lightly on the mouth. "I guess I better get ready, huh?"

She pushes the blanket off her and heads into the bathroom to get in the shower. "Are you going to join me?" she said softly with a coy smile on her face. I lust after this woman when she's in her clothes, I lust after her even more when she's naked, but to see her naked and wet? I might fall over and pass out! I hurriedly shed my clothes and run in the bathroom. She's standing in the shower, just about ready to step in, when she asks me "What took you so long to get naked?" She smiles that smile at me. Hi, my name is Mike, and I'm addicted to a girl.

_Jessalinn's POV_

It was 7:00 in the morning. Mike had just dropped me off at the airport. In a few short hours I would home. I can't even begin to tell you how much I missed Houston. When I called Vince at the ungodly hour of six in the morning, I was afraid that I was going to get a huge lecture for bringing my personal problems in to work. I guess everyone's personal problems follow them to work some days, but it seems that only mine are the ones that get broadcasted on national tv. Vince agreed to give me three weeks off. That was three weeks where I wouldn't have to deal with Randy and figure out what my intentions were going to be with Mike.

I was sitting in the boarding area, waiting for my flight to be called, when I decided to check my phone. I hadn't checked it since about three that morning. I found myself wondering when the last time I slept was, no matter. I had 20 text messages. 15 from Randy and 5 from other random people. I still haven't read the 18 he sent me Monday night.

I decided that I would deal with those later. Right now, I'm too anxious to get home and sleep in my own bed. My flight number got called and we boarded the plane. I freaking hate flying.

Several hours later, we landed in Houston. It was weird being at an airport without Randy. Usually he's the one that gets our bags from claims and arranges the rental car. Guess that's something I'll have to get used to doing on my own. You might be asking yourself, well, she's got Mike to get her bags and drive her around, right? I'm sure he wouldn't mind being my traveling buddy, but this is the first time in almost six years that I haven't had a boyfriend, and I'm kind of curious to see how my life will pan out without a man attached to hip every day. Insane, right?

Since I had a perfectly good car sitting in my garage at home, I don't bother getting a rental. I just call a cab and practically beg the driver to drive me across town so I can go home. I haven't been home in two months. I haven't seen my dad in almost five months. I haven't seen any of my sisters, besides Kait, for six months. What a life.

I had just unlocked my front door and was setting my bags down, when my house phone started ringing. Really? I had just walked in the door and my phone rings?

I glanced quickly at the answering machine—21 messages—and look at the caller id to see who is calling. Apparently, the last time I was home, I shut it off and didn't bother to turn it back on. Great. Oh, well, might as well get it over with.

"Hello?" I answer.

"Hey." Shit. I know that deep voice anywhere. It was Randy. Why, oh, why, didn't I turn my caller id back on when I left last time?

"Hey." I didn't know what to say to him, so I figured 'hey' would be good enough.

"How was your flight?" Really? After everything that happened Monday night and early this morning, he was concerned about how my flight went? He knows I hate to fly, I would much rather drive everywhere or even, gasp, take public transportation than fly.

"It was all right. Why are you calling?" That's right, cut to the chase. Let's get this over with.

"I miss you. I want to see you. I think we should talk about what happened."

"Randy, we have lots to talk about; however, I seriously just walked in the door, and haven't slept since Sunday. I just want to go to bed."

"Linn, I know you're tired. You looked like hell when I saw you last." Gee thanks. "I just want to see you."

"I don't know if that's such a good idea, Randy."

"Why? Is Mike there with you?" He was starting to get angry and raising his voice.

"No. He didn't come home with me. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I figured since you got tired of me all of the sudden, you would want your new boyfriend home with you."

"First of all, I don't think he's my boyfriend. Secondly" He cut me off.

"If he's not your boyfriend, what the hell is he then? We were together for six years, Linn, how can you just throw everything we had away like this?" He was starting to get real mad at this point.

"You know what, Randy. Enough. If you can't calm down enough to talk to me without raising your voice, then we have nothing to talk about." And with that I hung up the phone and shut the ringer off. I kicked off my shoes and started up the stairs. I was going to take fucking nap. Alone. For the first time in six years. I even did the unimaginable as I laid down. I shut my cell phone off. Gasp!

I finally woke up around four that afternoon. I still felt like I hadn't slept in days. Weeks. Months! Ok, now I'm just being overly dramatic. I reached over to my nightstand and turned my phone back on. It's been off since eleven this morning. Probably the longest it's been off since I got it. As I waited for it to turn on and load my messages, I looked around my bedroom. I love this house. I picked it out and bought it myself, with no help from my dad. It's the main reason I never wanted to move in with Randy. This house was all mine.

I loved my king size bed with the white bedspread, I loved the white furniture, the light lavender walls. I kept pictures of my nieces and nephews on the dresser, pictures of me and my sisters on the dressing table. Pictures of my mom on my nightstand. Sigh. I miss my mom. I was real little when she passed away, but I still remember her face. My stepmom was all right, but sometimes I wish my real mom was still around. My stroll down sad lane was interrupted by my phone ringing. Of course. It's been on for like two minutes, why wouldn't it start blowing up? It was Kait. I had been avoiding her since Monday night.

"Hello?"

"Where the hell are you? Why haven't you been answering my calls? I called you like a million times! Do you have any idea how worried I am about you?"

"Kait, calm down. I'm fine. I'm in Houston. Vince gave me some time off."

"Well, just when were you going to tell me that you were headed home? Damn, Linn. I haven't seen you since Monday, I had no idea what happened to you after you took off with Mike. Is he there with you now?"

"No, why does everyone keep asking if he's with me? He's probably on his way to the next show, I don't know."

"Wait. Is Randy there with you? Have you even bothered to talk to him?"

"No, Randy isn't here either. I'm home. And I'm alone. For the first time in forever, I am home and alone. It's kind of nice."

"I'm coming to see you. You shouldn't be alone. I'll catch a flight out tonight."

"Kait, you don't have to do that. I'm fine. I'm just going to hang around at home for a couple of days and figure things out."

"Oh, ok. Has Randy called you yet? He was absolutely livid after he found out about you and Mike."

"Yep. I've got about 30 unread messages from him and about a hundred missed calls. He already called me at home. I'm just….Just not ready to deal with him yet."

"Well you better figure out when you're going to be able to deal with him. Because I have a feeling he isn't going to leave you alone anytime soon. Promise to call me if you need anything?"

"I promise."

"Ok. Well I love you, little sis, but I gotta get going. Cody is impatiently waiting in the car for me. We're headed off to Chicago in a few minutes. Seriously, though, call me if you need **anything**."

"I will, love you bye." I hang up, not waiting for her to say goodbye. Because I know she will only hang on the line, not getting off until I tell her everything.

While I've been on the phone with Kait, my phone's been beeping like crazy. Damn phone. I look to see what calls I missed. My dad, Vince, Mike, Abby. I should call Abby back, but I know she is going to get all motherly on me and question my sanity.

I head downstairs and go into the kitchen. I open my fridge, finding nothing of interest to eat. So I order a pizza and go out into the living room. I set up my laptop on the coffee table. Might as well get some work done while it's quiet. I log into my email, disappointed to find out that I have twenty eight emails to plow through. Nice. I sort by sender, taking care of the ones from corporate first. I finish those up and delete them as I get them done. I come across the one from Randy Monday afternoon that I never opened. Might as well open it now.

_Linn,_

_I'm finding it hard to talk to you lately. You're so jumpy all the time. I know you're ALWAYS plugged into your laptop, always checking your email on your phone, so I figured this is the best way to reach you. _

_These last couple of years have been great. You are great. We are great together. I love you so much and want you to know that I would do ANYTHING for you. Aside from my career, YOU are what keeps me going every day. I just thought you should know._

I wipe the tears off my face that have started falling, remembering how sweet he could be sometimes. I am such a bitch. How could I have been so mean to him?

_I want to ask you something really important after the show tonight. Don't worry, nothing bad, it's something really good. Something you've been waiting for me to ask. I love you more than anything and I'm really glad we're together._

_Love, Randy_

He was going to ask me. He was **finally** going to ask me to marry him that night. I had been waiting almost five years for him to ask me. And what did I do? I went and fucked it all up by choosing Mike over Randy. How could I have been so stupid?

I must have reread that email about hundred times before it finally sank in. He was actually going to ask me to marry him. After we had been together for two years, I started hinting around that maybe we should get married. He always brushed it off, saying the time wasn't right; both of our careers were starting to take off. Then there was the fact that my dad didn't think he was good enough for me. That never seemed to bother him as much as what he thought he would be giving up in his career by getting married at 25.

I eventually gave up hoping that he would ask me to marry him and just fell into a comfortable routine with him. Traveling from city to city, doing the shows, going out after the show with the rest of the roster, heading back to the hotel room more often times than not, drunk, having sex, falling asleep and doing it all over again the next day.

Apparently that routine got too comfortable for me and I started looking for some excitement in my life. Which is where Mike came in. He was something different. He was exciting. Ain't gonna lie, the sex was, as he would say, awesome. Shit, what was I going to do with Mike? I wasn't sure what I wanted from him. I didn't want to get serious with him, and I didn't want to lead him on in case I went running back to Randy. Should I even go running back to Randy? Should I call him back and tell him I that I made a huge mistake and that I was sorry? Would he even take me back? I messed up really bad this time.

**Randy's POV**

I can't still believe that she did this to me. Didn't she have any idea how I felt about her? I seriously gave her everything I could to make her happy with me. I was even going to ask her to marry me Monday night. That's what she's wanted all these years. I bought her a huge diamond ring and everything. Shit, I even talked to her old man on the phone a few weeks ago to make sure it was ok with him that I asked her. Amazingly, he said yes. I would have never done anything like that for anyone else, but she was different.

Today is only Tuesday, but it feels like what happened last night happened a million years ago. She wasn't answering my messages, she won't talk to me on the phone, and she won't let me see her in person. I saw the fear in her eyes when she opened the motel room door. She was scared of me. She knew she did the unthinkable and that I wouldn't be able to forgive her so quickly. She cheated on me. With a jerk off like Mizanin. I hated that guy so much. I just want to walk up to him and start punching him in the face until he stops moving.

Part of me wants her to be scared of me; to feel the same kind of emotional pain that she's making me go through right now; to make her hurt.

I just got checked into my hotel room in Chicago. It sucks not having her here with me. John said that maybe she just needs her space for a few days. A few days without her is too long. I wanted her back now.

Maybe I should fly down to Houston tomorrow. I had a few days off after tonight before I needed to be in Florida for a show. Ugh, this is killing me! I can't get her out of my fucking head!


	3. Visiting Dad

**Chapter 3**

_Jessalinn's POV_

I spent the rest of the week at home not doing anything. It was awesome. I needed this break from work so badly. My cell has been blowing up the last few days with messages and missed calls, but I don't answer them. If it's really important, they'll know my house phone number or stop by my house.

While it was nice sitting on my couch and catching up on bad daytime tv, today was Friday and I was feeling kind of restless. I usually spend my Friday nights on the road; hit up a club with Randy or Kait and I had no idea what to do with myself tonight or the rest of my time off for that matter.

Maybe I should call Vince and let him know that I'm coming back early? No, because I might get back on the road and with the schedule and realize that I'm still burnt out. Maybe I should drive to Victoria and see my dad? I hadn't seen him in what feels like forever. I text dad quick to find out what they are doing this weekend. I don't tell him that I'm coming to visit; I want it to be a surprise. Luckily they will be around the house this weekend.

I pack an over night bag, load up my car with some good music and hit the road. It's almost a two and a half hour drive, so I've got lots of time to think and figure out what the hell I'm doing with my life as of late.

I put in one of the cds I brought with, not paying too much attention to which one it is. I know from the first few chords that it's the cd Mike made for me. Yeah, he's a nerd and made me a cd. It's the equivalent of mixed tapes from the 80s.

_You know all my deepest secrets I think you know You know to keep 'em But I wonder if you know I hate sleeping alone_

_So come and tell me what my kiss tastes like Don't wanna miss it So turn off the lights But I wonder if you know I hate sleeping alone_

I wonder how he knew to put this song on here for me. I think back to our first rendezvous together after the night at the park. It had been about two weeks after that drunk kiss. Randy had flown home to St. Louis for the week leaving me on my own for seven whole days. I was ecstatic because we had been fighting again. I was getting tired of him not wanting to settle down. Funny how things tend to change so quickly; because just a few months after that I was so afraid that he did want to settle down with me and now I wasn't ready to anymore.

_I have to fake it I leave if I could I'm not in love But the sex is good You can't mistake it_

_Because it's understood I'm not in love But the sex is good _

I had run into Mike in the lobby of the hotel and it was kind of awkward at first because I had been avoiding him since that night. He asked me to hang out with him that night, promising that nothing funny would happen; we would just watch a movie. He's a smooth talker and we never watched that movie, instead he answered the door without a shirt on, and kissed me on the neck before closing the door behind me.

We sat on the pull out sofa talking for a while. He asked me where Randy was and I mentioned that he had some time off and went home for a few days. He asked me if I was lonely without him, I lied and said no, I was fine. He asked me if I ever thought about our kiss in the park, I lied and said no. He silently called me on that lie by leaning in and kissing me softly on the lips. As he pulled away, he asked me if I liked that, I lied and said no. He leaned in and kissed me again on the lips, this time a little bit harder. He asked me if I liked that, I lied and said no. He was getting some kind of kick out this game, so was I, so I let him continue. He leaned in and kissed me again on the lips, this time his kiss was harder, his tongue forced my mouth open and his tongue met mine. He pulled away and asked me if I liked that, I lied and said no. I thought that he would eventually get tired of this and stop, but he didn't.

_You got to know Know my weakness You always touch In all the right places We don't get along that well Not much for talk But you're hot as hell_

He put his arm around my shoulders and rested his other hand on my back, he leaned in and kissed me again, his tongue forcing my mouth open, his tongue fighting with mine, his hand moved from my back and tangled his fingers in my hair, pulling gently. He gently bit my bottom lip and starting pushing me back on the couch, his lips never leaving mine. His arm left my shoulder and started wandering by the hem of my shirt. He nipped at my bottom lip again, breaking the kiss. He moved his mouth over to my ear and whispered, "Did you like that?" I couldn't answer him, because I couldn't catch my breath and couldn't see straight.

_It's not like I wanna stick around It's just tonight I'm gonna lay you down_

He took my silence for a yes, and gently nipped at my ear, whispering "I'm going to make you forget all about him." His lips moved down to my neck, at first leaving soft kisses as his mouth moved around, slowly the soft kisses were replaced with gentle nips. His wandering hands made their way under my shirt, and were slowly running over my bra. He managed to unhook it, sat me up and lifted my shirt over my head and moved my bra straps off my shoulder, discarding the bra and shirt on the floor. He laid me back down and continued his assault on my neck, his fingers gently pinching my nipples, causing me to moan softly into his ear. My hands had been running up and down his back, I moved one hand up to his head and began to run my fingers through his hair, encouraging him to keep doing what he was doing to me.

Without his lips ever leaving my neck, he pulled me off the couch and we moved over to his bed. He stopped kissing my neck and looked me in the eyes while he unzipped his jeans, letting them drop to the floor. He stepped out of them, never taking his eyes off mine as he unzipped my pants and let them fall to the floor. He put his arms around me and gently pushed me onto the bed, straddling me. My lips met his again. Wandering hands removed my panties and he pushed my legs apart, settling in between my legs. I could feel how hard he was. His lips finally left mine as he leaned over to the nightstand and grabbed a condom out of the drawer; I pulled his boxers off as he put on the condom. He hovered above me for a minute, not saying anything, just looking at me. He whispered, "Do you even realize how beautiful you are?" He leaned down and kissed me again as he pushed his way inside me….

_So now you know What my kiss tastes like So in the morning I say goodbye But I wonder_

_If you know I hate sleeping alone_

I almost missed my exit thinking about that first night with Mike. My phone starting ringing, bringing me out of the past, I glanced down at the screen and saw that it was my sister Abby. I had better take this and let her know I'm on my way home.

_Abby's POV_

I had been trying to get a hold of my youngest sister since Monday night after what I saw on RAW. I knew for two months that she had been stringing the two men along, and I warned her that this was going to backfire on her. Someone was going to get hurt at the end all of this, and it was going to be her.

But talking to her about Randy and Mike was like talking to a brick wall sometimes. She didn't want to hear that what she was doing was wrong. I've known Randy for four years; she brought him home for holidays, weddings, baptisms and other family events. He was all right. I certainly didn't think that he deserved to be referred to only as 'douche bag', which is what my father calls him. Unlike my dad and my sister Miranda, I took the time to get to know Randy. The more I got to know him, the more I actually got to like him. I could tell he really was head over heels for her. He even told me about her little tattoo. Now, I don't really mind the tats that Linn had—they all obviously had some sort of meaning, I guess I was just kind of shocked when he told me about the little RKO. I didn't really picture my baby sister making that kind of statement with a guy.

Then a few months ago, I met Mike on accident, and her unusual behavior lately started to make perfect sense. She had found someone to make her feel like Randy had when they first started dating. When I say I met Mike on accident, I mean I caught them having sex. She was home for the weekend and we had made plans to hang out one night. I went over to her house to pick her up. I must have knocked on the front door for like five minutes before I finally got frustrated enough to use my spare key and walk in. I could hear something upstairs, so I figured that's where she must be. I headed to her bedroom and got the shock of my life when I saw Linn up against the wall getting fucked by someone who wasn't Randy. I cleared my throat, making them stop what they were doing. I swear Linn turned pale and looked like she was going to throw up when she realized that I had been standing there. He just looked at me and smirked a cocky smile.

"I'm giving you exactly five minutes to get dressed and come downstairs. You and I have some talking to do about what exactly the hell you are doing, Linn."

They came down a few minutes later. He took off, saying he had a flight to catch. He kissed her goodbye and whispered something to her that I couldn't hear, but she just nodded her head.

We sat down and she told me about what had been happening the last few months. I tried to keep my judgments to myself. When she was done, she asked me what she should do. I've always been very calm with her; she's my baby sister and I don't want to see her get hurt, so I told her the truth. She was the only one that was going to get hurt when this was all done. She was going to have to have to make a decision to either be with just one of them or neither of them. Personally, I thought she should get rid of both of them and start over; and I told her that. At the time, she probably didn't understand what I meant when I said to get rid of both of them, but I'm sure she understands now after everything that happened on Monday night.

Randy called me right after he talked to her in Houston Tuesday. Poor guy—he was absolutely a mess. I felt bad for him because dad told me how Randy had called him a few weeks ago about proposing to her. He never got his chance to, because Mike broke the news about her cheating on him.

It was now Friday and she had finally called me back. I was almost shocked to find out that she had been in Houston since Tuesday and didn't bother to call me. I was even more shocked to find out that she was on her way to Victoria to see dad. I was on my way to visit dad and Debra myself. I was about an hour from dad's house and she was about two hours away yet, so I had time to kill before she would get there. Then we would talk. We had a lot to talk about too.

_Randy's POV_

I had just finished working out at the hotel gym when I saw Mike Mizanin talking to Kait. I couldn't hear what they were saying but it didn't look good for Kait. She stood there with her arms crossed while he kept talking. The closer I got, the more I realized that he was raising his voice at her. I'm still pissed at Kait right now, because she knew what had been going on this whole time. But she didn't deserve to be yelled at by that jerk off. God, I hated that guy. He had been smart and was avoiding me at all costs; because God only knows what I would do to him if he came close to me.

"Kait, you need to tell me where she is. I haven't seen her since I dropped her off at the airport, I haven't talked to her since Wednesday. If you know where she is, you need to fucking tell me!"

"Mike, I have told you this already, but I will say it very slow and use little words so you understand. I. Do. Not. Know. Where. She. Is. I. Have. Not. Talked. To Her. Today. Did you understand me that time?" She wasn't scared of him.

I always liked Kait. She was so cocky and liked to raise hell. Reminds me of someone else I know. I've talked to Kait once since Monday, she straight out told me that she had known the whole time and she was taking Linn's side and if I didn't like that, I could go fuck myself. I almost felt bad for Cody sometimes for having a girlfriend like that. But he either likes the way she is, or he can hold his own with her.

I was just about to walk away and let Kait handle this on her own, when he put his hands on her. I walked over to them, "Is there a problem, Kait?" Mizanin looked up to see who was talking to her, when he saw it was me; he turned around and started to leave, shooting me a glare.

"You better walk away, Mizanin. If I **ever** catch you laying hands on a woman again, I will personally kick your teeth in." I asked Kait if she was ok, when suddenly I was on the ground. That asshole sucker punched me when I was distracted! He was on top of me punching me in the face when his fist connected with my nose and I felt the blood run out. He was just about to lay another punch, when someone dragged him off of me.

I was blind with rage and only saw Mizanin. I didn't see who had pulled him off of me and holding him back, it didn't matter because no one was holding me back. I ran at him, hitting him in the stomach with my shoulder. Knocked the fucker down to the ground and started wailing on him. My fist connected with his eye, when I felt someone pulling me off of him. Fuck. Why couldn't any one just let us fight this out? The winner gets the girl.

"Knock it off! Knock it off right now or you're all suspended!" I turned around to see Vince standing by Kait. Alex Riley was holding Mizanin back and John had come out of nowhere and pulled me off of Mizanin, knowing that I would have killed him if no one had stopped the fight.

I loved my job too much to get suspended so I stopped fighting with John to let me back at Mizanin. Vince had some stern words about suspension if we kept behavior like this up. I didn't even hear him. All I could see was Mizanin. I would get my revenge on him, just not today.

_Jessalinn's POV_

I was stating to get restless. I had been driving for an hour and a half, with another half hour to go before I got to my dad's place. I just finished listening to the cd that Mike made for me and wasn't in the mood for music anymore. I glanced over at my phone; I had three missed calls and a couple texts. All the missed calls and texts were from Mike. Wonder what he wanted? I hadn't talked to him since Wednesday. Might as well call him back, I have some time to kill.

I put his cd back in even though I had just gotten done listening to it, and jumped to track 4.

_Take a look at my girlfriend She's the only one I got (ba ba da da) Not much of a girlfriend  
>I never seem to get a lot (ba ba da da, ba ba da da)<br>_

I put my blue tooth ear piece on and dialed his number. It rang a couple of times before it went to voicemail. Weird. He usually answers right away when I called. I left him a voicemail asking him to call me back. I promised to answer because I was driving and bored and was looking for someone to amuse me.

_It's been some time since we last spoke This is gonna sound like a bad joke But momma I fell in love again It's safe to say I have a new girlfriend  
><em>

I drove for another fifteen minutes, damn, why did my dad live so far away? Mike finally called me back.

_And I know it sounds so old But cupid got me in a chokehold And I'm afraid I might give in Towels on the mat my white flag is wavin'  
><em>

"About damn time you called me back." I laughed.

"It sucks when people don't call you back, doesn't it? I've been calling you since Wednesday. Where you at, girl?"

"Headed to Victoria. I'm going to grace my dad with my presence."

"Well, aren't you the greatest daughter in the world?" He said with a laugh.

"I know right? What have you been doing?"

"Well, right now I've got an icepack on my eye, because Orton decided to punch me in the face."

_I mean she even cooks me pancakes And Alka Seltzer when my tummy aches If that ain't love then I don't know what love_

I didn't say anything for a minute. "Why did he punch you?"

"Probably because I punched him first and more than likely broke his nose. Asshole."

"Wait, why did you punch him first?"

"I don't like him."

"I understand that. But why did you hit him?" What the hell did Mike think he was doing? He promised me he wouldn't pick a fight with Randy over this.

"It's not important. When are you coming back to work?"

"Um, no, Mike it is kind of important. You promised you wouldn't pick a fight with him. What happened?"

"I was talking to Kait when he came over. Some words were exchanged and the next thing I know I just kind of punched him in the face."

"Ok. I guess I don't understand."

"Me either. Vince broke it up and threatened to suspend us both if we kept it up. So, now I gotta be nice to Orton or I'm going home for a few weeks."

I didn't say anything for a few minutes. The nice thing about being on the phone with Mike, is that silence like this didn't bother either of us.

_We even got a secret handshake And she loves the music that my band makes I know I'm young but if I had to choose her or the sun I'd be one nocturnal son of a gun _

_(ba ba da da, ba ba da da) _

_Take a look at my girlfriend She's the only one I got (ba ba da da) Not much of a girlfriend _

_I never seem to get a lot (ba ba da da, ba ba da da) _

_Take a look at my girlfriend She's the only one I got (ba ba da da) Not much of a girlfriend I never seem to get a lot (ba ba da da, ba ba da da) _

"Hey, is that the cd I made you?"

"Yeah. This is the second time I'm listening to it today. Someone has good taste in music."

"Sounds like it. The person that made it is probably pretty awesome."

This was the Mike that I liked—cocky.

_It's been awhile since we talked last and I'm tryin' hard not to talk fast But dad I'm finally thinkin' I may have found the one Type of girl that will make you way proud of your son _

_And I know you heard the last song about the girls that didn't last long But I promise this is on a whole new plane I can tell by the way she says my name (ba ba da da) _

_I love it when she calls my phone She even got her very own ringtone If that ain't love then I don't know what love is (ba ba da da) _

"Yeah, he's all right."

"I think you mean to say 'awesome."

I laughed. He could always make me laugh even when my world feels like it's falling down around me.

"Nope, pretty sure I mean to say all right."

"Awesome."

I wasn't going to get into the 'awesome' argument with him. Because then he would start playing the 'really' game. There was only half an hour of my drive left, and that game can go on forever. I didn't want to be playing it all night.

"When are you coming back to work? Everyone misses you around here and we're running around causing chaos without you reminding us to behave. Vince named Vicki the fill in general manager while you're gone. She scares me."

"He picked Vicki? Good luck with that. Cena will break her after two days."

"Probably, but it'll make me laugh."

"Vince gave me three weeks off, but I don't know if I'm going to use all the time. I've been off for four days and I'm already bored as hell."

"I could fly out and visit, then you wouldn't be bored. I could find lots of way to pass the time."

"I'm sure you could, Mr. Mizanin."

Another couple of minutes of silence.

"I miss you, baby. I got a couple of days to kill after Monday. I can fly out after the show."

"I don't know, Mike. Let me think about it."

"Do you miss me?"

Did I? I had no idea.

"A little bit."

"Just a little bit? Really?"

Oh, Lord. Here he goes. I giggle.

"Really."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. I gotta let you go, I just turned on the exit to my dad's. I'll talk to you later?"

"Sounds good."

We played a couple more rounds of the 'really' game before we finally hung up. I had just pulled into the driveway. I didn't quite know what to expect when I got inside the house. I hadn't called my dad back yet. He had called a couple of times and never left a voicemail. He was probably glad that I broke up with Randy. He never liked him.

I had just gotten out of the car, when my dad came out onto the front porch. Surprise. Well, here goes nothing.

_Steve's POV_

Well, looks like my baby girl decided to come home. I was wondering when she was going to show up. She usually shows up back home when things are falling apart. I haven't seen her in two months. I mean, I've seen her every Monday night on RAW, but she ain't been home in two months. I watched her get out of the car and head towards the house. She looks so much like her mama….

I had watched RAW on Monday night and I wish I could have been there for her. I makes me feel a little bit better as a father knowing that Kait was there for her to lean on.

I was shocked beyond belief to find out what my youngest had been up to in the last few months. I had no idea. I had talked to douche—I mean Randy—about two weeks ago and he asked me if he could ask Linn to marry him. I thought about it. Had a beer. Had another beer. Thought about it some more. Had another beer. Thought about it and called him back. If he had been willing to put up with this family for a couple years now and hadn't run screaming out the door, I guess it would be all right to ask her. I told that son of a bitch he could marry her, but if I ever heard about him making her unhappy I was goin' stomp a mudhole in him and walk it dry!

But seeing my youngest pull up in my driveway after being gone so long, makes me think that maybe she wasn't as happy as I thought she was. Does that mean I get to stomp douche—I mean, Randy? Huh. I'll have to ask Debra about that one.

She got out of the car and walked up to the front porch. I didn't know what to say to her, so guess I'll wait 'til she says something. She set down her suitcase on the porch swing and puts her arms around my waist and hugged me a few minutes. I still didn't know what to do, so I just kissed the top of her red head. Then she started bawling. I really didn't know what to do then, so I just let her hug me. I tried patting her shoulder to see if that would make her stop crying. It didn't. It just made her cry harder. Damn women with their cryin'. I tried to loosen her arms from my waist so I could bring her into the house, but she wouldn't let go. So we stood there on the front porch for a while. Her missin' Randy or Mike or both? And me missin' the beer I left on the kitchen table.

I managed to get to sit down on the porch swing with me. She was still cryin' but at least she was quiet about it now. I heard another car coming up the driveway. It was my oldest daughter, Abby. I breathed a sigh of relief—Abby would know what to do with this cryin' mess sitting next to me. If Debra was here, she could have dealt with this, but she was at work, leavin' me here to be a human Kleenex. Don't get me wrong, I love my six daughters, and since their mama died when Linn was little, it's just been me and them 'til I married Debra a few years ago. And I have no idea what to do when they cry like this. I've found over the years offerin' to take them hunting don't make them feel better. Neither does offering to share my beer with them.

Abby got out of her car and came up to the porch swing and looked at us. We must have looked like a sight. Linny was bawlin' and I was sittin' there like a fool not knowin' what to do.

"Geez, dad. She's probably only been here for ten minutes and you already made her cry?"

"I didn't make her cry! She did that on her own."

"Come on, Linn. Let's go inside." She took her sister gently by the arm and took her inside. Good, now that Abby was here, she would make Linn stop cryin' and maybe make me something to eat.

_Jessalinn's POV_

I'm not sure why I started crying when I saw my dad. I just did. If I wasn't so busy crying, I probably would have thought that it was funny when my dad didn't know what to do. He really was a good father, just completely clueless on what to do when any of his daughters started crying.

It was a Friday night so dad was headed out to the bar with some of his buddies, leaving me and Abby alone at the house, even though two of his kids had driven over an hour to come see him. I had a feeling that I was going to get the biggest lecture of my life from Abby. Surprisingly, after dad left, she went in the fridge and grabbed two beers and we sat in the living room and just started bullshitting.

Abby has always been my rock. When things go wrong, I turn to her. Kait is my best friend, and she tries, but Abby can always talk me through any situation and make it better. She isn't bringing up what a mess of my love life that I've made, so I guess I should.

"So, I messed up pretty bad, huh?" I started off.

She took a drink of her beer, "Kind of looks that way. Are you exclusively with Mike now?"

"I don't know."

"How can you not know something like that?"

"I don't know."

"Ok….Have you talked to Randy about this?"

"No. He keeps calling and I keep hanging up on him. Mike called and said that him and Randy got into a fist fight. He thinks he broke Randy's nose."

"I see."

"Yep."

"After hearing that Mike hit Randy over you, do you think Mike is the right kind of guy for you?"

"I don't know."

"Ok….After seeing Randy fight for you, do you think Randy's the right kind of guy for you?"

"I don't know."

"Linn, I really don't want to play the "I don't know" game with you. I'm asking open ended questions to try and get you to think this through and you're not cooperating. I'm going to tell you something that Randy probably didn't tell you."

I looked at her. I know she was trying to help me out here. I didn't say anything. I just listened.

"Randy called dad a couple of weeks ago. He asked dad if he could ask you to marry you."

"Oh. My. God. Why would he do that?"

"Uh, because he loves you, you idiot. That man loved you so much, that he would swallow his pride and call up your father and ask his permission to marry you. You and I both know that dad and Randy don't get along, but he loves you that much."

I had no idea Randy had done that. Shit, I just found out a few days ago that he was going to propose. And even then I didn't know if that's what he really meant when he said he wanted to ask me something. Shit.

"I see that you didn't know that. I think you need to take a good, long hard look and how you're living your life. Maybe life on the road isn't right for you. Maybe you should find a firm in Houston and take a consulting job. You are really good at what you do, but maybe you should keep a stable job instead of flying across country every week and getting yourself into situations like this again."

I just looked at her with my mouth open. Was she crazy? I loved my job! I was really, really good at it. I didn't want to leave the WWE for a corporate job! I didn't want to dress up for work everyday and wear ugly shoes. I wanted to wear jeans and I wanted to go out drinking after a show with my co-workers. I wanted the excitement of the crowd.

Abby clears her throat. "I see from the way your mouth is hanging open that you've never thought about leaving the WWE?"

"No. I have thought about it. But I can't, I love it."

"All right. I just wanted you to give it some thought. You do what's best for you, though. You are the only one who is responsible for your own decisions. But you need to remember that when you make rash decisions, like you did this week, that eventually you're going to have to deal with the consequences."

I didn't say anything. So she kept talking.

"You might think right now that you're going to be happy with Mike, but eventually, Randy is going to catch up with you; and you owe him an explanation, a big explanation. One that requires you to say more than 'I don't know.' You'll get through this, Linn. I know you will. That's really all I have to say about this whole mess."

That was it? She was really going to drop it just like that? I thought she would have spent hours, days, weeks, analyzing this for me.

It was just after midnight when we went to bed. It was weird sleeping in my old bedroom. The last time I had spent the night at my childhood home was around Christmas. Randy had come home with me, and Debra gave us the ok to share my room, even though my dad vehemently protested the very thought of it.

I drifted off to sleep fairly quickly, surrounded by the comforts of my former life.

The next morning I was rudely awakened by my dad pounding on the bedroom door, asking someone to make him breakfast. Apparently, my stepmom was out of town for the weekend, and dad was incapable of making himself something to eat. Damn him.

I made us something to eat and told him that I was going to be leaving for Houston later this morning. Abby had taken off early this morning, needing to get back home to her own family.

"You sure aren't staying long" he said. "Didn't Vinny give you some time off?"

"Yeah, he did, but I think I'm going to head back today. Is that all right?"

"I didn't even know you were comin' to visit last night. We don't see much of you around here anymore, Linny."

"I know."

We ate in silence for a while.

Dad cleared his throat and started talking. "You know, douche bag called me up few weeks ago."

"Dad, his name is Randy."

"I know damn well what his name is; don't back talk me, young lady. Anyway, he called me up and said he wanted to marry you. I thought about it long and hard and told him it was all right. Just thought I should let you know that. Not that it matters anymore, looks like you changed your mind about him. Should I be expecting another young man comin' home with you soon?"

"I don't think so, dad."

"Well, all right then."

I sat around and bullshitted with my dad for a few more hours, and finally packed my stuff up around 3:00 afternoon to head back to Houston. I awkwardly hugged him goodbye and promised to call soon.

I had left my phone in the car overnight, not bothering to take it in the house with me, because I knew I would be talking to Abby all night. As I was pulling onto the highway, I looked at the missed call list—couple from Kait, four from Mike, one from Randy. I looked at the text messages—24. Damn it.

I popped a cd in the player and the music started to fill the car, taking my mind off what kind of mess I had on my hands. Onward to Houston!


	4. Walking in Memphis

**Chapter 4**

_**Randy's POV**_

I made it through my first weekend without Linn. I have never been so lonely in my entire life. I didn't even want to hang out with John or the rest of the guys when they all went out Saturday night. I wanted to sit in my motel room and mope.

John tried convincing me that I should go out with them; I should try and get my mind off of her. But I couldn't. I spent the last six years of my life with her by my side. And now she was gone. I missed her so much. I kept thinking about the things that I should have done to keep her happy, but the damn thing was, that I didn't know what I did wrong. It must have been something real horrible for her to cheat on me with someone like Mizanin. I hated him so much. Just the thought of him made me want to punch the damn wall.

Kait finally started talking to me, I'm sure it wasn't on her own free will, though. My buddy Cody must have finally convinced her to. I have never understood that relationship. Linn never did either. Damn. Linn….

Kait said that she had just talked to her sister, and that she had just got home from visiting her dad. She told me that their dad had told her that I had called him a few weeks ago. So now she knew. Now she knew that I was finally giving in to what she had wanted all along—a marriage proposal. Maybe that's why she did this; she finally got tired of waiting around for me. Fuck it.

I pulled out the bottle of Jack Daniels that I had stowed away in my suitcase, unscrewed the cap and took a big drink. The warm liquid burned down my throat. I held the bottle up and looked at it in the light. It was ¾ full. I had no doubt that I would finish it tonight given the way I'm feeling right now. I thought about the last time I saw her, her eyes were scared when she saw me when she opened the door. I thought about her in Mizanin's arms after I walked away that night with John. I took another drink and sat down on the edge of the bed.

_People say she's only in my head It's gonna take time but I'll forget They say I need to get on with my life_

I took another drink. It was starting to not burn down my throat anymore. I set the bottle down on the floor and put my head in my hands. This hurt. This hurt real bad. I make a living getting the crap kicked out of me every night, but nothing has ever hurt like this.

_What they don't realize Is when you're dialing six numbers just to hang up the phone Driving 'cross town just to see if she's home Waking a friend in the dead of night Just to hear him say, "It's gonna be all right" When you find the things to do not to fall asleep 'Cause you know she'll be there in your dreams That's when she's more than a memory_

I went over to my suitcase, grabbing the bottle with me, and took out her photo album that she had left in our last hotel room. She carried this damn thing with her everywhere we went. When we got upset with each other and started fighting, she would take it out and make me look at with her, to remind us why we were together.

I flipped to the middle of book and started looking at the pictures. Taking another drink, I took out the picture of us at the Hall of Fame ceremony where her dad was inducted. She looked so beautiful that night. Her soft hair was pulled up on top of her, she wore this long black dress that showed off every curve she had. I looked rather nice too, but was nothing compared to her that night. She was so proud of her dad and you could see it in her smile. Took another big drink.

_'Cause when you're talking out loud and nobody's there You look like hell and you just don't care_

_Drinking more than you ever drank Sinking down lower than you ever sank When you find yourself falling down upon your knees Praying to God and begging Him please That's when she's more than a memory_

I put the picture back, and took out another one of us. In this one we were at my house in St. Louis. She had a cold that weekend, so we stayed in watching sappy movie after sappy movie, just to make her happy. She finally started to feel better towards the end of the weekend. This was us sitting on the couch, my arm around her, kissing her cheek while she took the picture of us. Another picture at my house. This one is just her laying on my bed, after she woke up from a nap; smiling her sleepy little smile, her lips slightly swollen because I had kissed her so roughly while we were making love before our nap.

Damn it all to hell.

The bottle was less than half full now. I started to feel a little sick to my stomach, but I wasn't feeling that ache in my chest anymore. I closed the photo album, walked over to my bed and pulled out my phone. I dialed her number by heart and prayed she would at least talk to me, if not talk to me, at least listen to me.

_**Jessalinn's POV**_

I had been sleeping, when the sound of my phone ringing woke me up. I looked at the clock on my nightstand. 3:42 AM. What the hell? Someone better be dead and dying and it better not be a drunk Mike calling to play the 'Really?' game. I had played that with him on the phone until midnight.

I looked at the caller id. R. Damn. Do I answer it or do I let it go to voicemail? Fuck it.

"Randy, do you have any idea what time it is?"

He didn't say anything at first, but I could hear him on the other end.

"Hello? If you're going to call me at four in the morning, you could at least say something, Randall."

"Linn, please don't hang up. I know it's the middle of the night, but I had to hear your voice."

"Are you drunk, Randy?"

"A little."

"I know we need to talk about this, but I don't want to do it when you've been drinking. Can we make a deal and talk when I get back from vacation?"

"I s'pose." He was starting to slur his words. Wonder how much Jack he had to drink? "D'ya know when you're coming back?"

"In two weeks, if not sooner. I am going back to sleep, and I suggest you do the same, Randy."

"Come back sooner, I…miss you, Linn."

"Go to sleep, Randy."

"I still love you."

I didn't know what to say, so I hung up. I tried going back to sleep, but my brain had different ideas. I kept replaying our relationship in my head over and over again. I looked at the clock again, it was almost 4:30. I had talked to Randy for ten minutes, and tossed and turned the rest of the time. I was never going to get back to sleep at this point, might as well get up.

I was on my way down to the kitchen, when a picture on my wall caught my eye before I left my bedroom. I stifled a small laugh. It was a picture of me and Randy at Kait's place in San Antonio. We had a few days off in the area, and stayed at her place instead of renting a motel. My heart fluttered a little when I thought about how he had made me feel that day. He was sitting in a lawn chair in the backyard and I was on his lap; we were both doing his signature smirk at the camera. Of course he did it much better than I did. We looked so happy that day.

I think I was finally beginning to regret the decision I made…

**Monday Night RAW: Chicago**

_**Jessalinn's POV**_

Somehow I made it through Sunday and Monday. I settled on my couch to watch the show. It was going to be hard, knowing that my show was in the hands of Vicki. She annoyed me, and everyone else for that matter, to no end.

Of course they started the show with Randy right away. I knew they would start out that way considering what happened on last week's show. The situation between me, Mike and Randy was all they talked about on Twitter, Facebook, , Smackdown, etc. etc.

Jerry Lawler and Michael Cole did nothing but speculate on commentary on what the hell I was thinking from the beginning of the show. Randy's music hit and he had a pained look on his face as he made his way to the ring instead of his trademark smirk.

He called out Mike. Practically begged him to come down to the ring so they could fight this out. To any other woman, it would have been exciting to have two men fight over you; to me, however, it was hell. As I got caught up around the house yesterday and today, I thought a lot about my life. Maybe Abby was right, maybe this isn't the life for me. It might have been a good fit for me six years ago, but was this what I really wanted in the end—having to live with knowing how I hurt Randy, and having to live with the guilt of leading Mike on to where it could very well not go anywhere?

Mike came out to the ring. The two stood there just staring at each other, both had looks of extreme anger and determination on their faces. Vicki made her way to the ring to intervene. As acting general manager, she made a match between them. Here was the kicker, though; the match wouldn't happen until I returned! It could be tonight, it could be next week, hell it could be a month from now! And if they so much as laid a hand on each other between now and the time I came back, inside or outside of the ring, they would both be suspended without pay and neither would go to Wrestlemania.

She left the ring leaving both men to stare after her.

_**Mike's POV**_

Well, it doesn't look like I'll get my chance at Randy tonight. Vicki made that stupid stipulation. Damn it. I called Linn to see if she had bothered to watch the show tonight. I talked to her yesterday and it sounded like she wasn't going to watch.

"Hello?"

"Hey."

"Hey."

Wow, thrilling conversation, right?

"So, did you watch?"

"I did. Vicki is going to drive you all insane; you will be begging me to come back!"

"We already are, baby. What do you think about that match that isn't going to happen until you get your pretty face back to work?"

"I don't know, Mike. I'll feel a little bit better knowing that you two aren't going to be piss pounding each other every waking moment. Maybe by the time I come back, he'll have calmed down and won't be so hell bent on revenge."

"Linn, I hate to break this to you, but he is still beyond pissed. You should hear him backstage."

"Huh. He sounded sad when I talked to him Saturday night….."

"Wait a minute. You talked to him Saturday night?"

"Yeah, he drunk dialed me at like four in the morning."

"And you talked to him?"

"Um, yeah, that's usually what I do when people call me, you nerd."

"I'm not a nerd, I'm awesome. But back to this drunken call. What did he say?"

"Not much, he said he missed me…."

"And what did you say?"

"I don't know, Mike, it was four in the morning, I wanted to go back to bed. I told him we'd talk about it some other time."

"So, you didn't talk about getting back together?"

"Mike….."

"Linn….tell me you're not getting back together with him?"

She didn't say anything for a couple minutes.

"I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know? You either get back together with him or you don't."

"I don't know."

"Really? I don't want to play the 'I don't know' game with you right now. Maybe later, but right now, I need to know if you are playing me just to get back at him."

"I'm not."

"Ok, for some reason, I believe you."

This girl drove me nuts. I liked her so much that I would believe anything she said. She could tell me the grass is blue and the sky is brown with polka dots, and I would believe her. I needed to see her so bad. I missed that laugh of hers, her body, the perfume she wears, her kisses, the way her body fits with mine, that mouth. Good Lord, that mouth….

"Where are you headed tomorrow morning?"

"Memphis."

"What time do you think you'll be there?"

"I don't know, maybe around four tomorrow afternoon. I'm flying out at noon. Why?"

"Just wondering. It'll take me 8 hours to drive there, but I might have to put my big girl underwear on and fly. Then it will only take me 3 hours to get there…"

What? Really? She was going to fly out and see me? Did this mean she was coming back to work? Would I get my chance at Orton sooner than three weeks? Awesome. I had to keep my cool, couldn't let her hear me acting like a nerd.

"Are you thinking about coming back to work already?"

"No, I just want to see you…."

"I want to see you, too."

"I'm going to head up to bed, Mike. Call me tomorrow when you head out?"

"Absolutely."

We said good night and promised we would see each other tomorrow night. I couldn't wait to have her back in my arms again. To kiss that mouth….. I wished I was in Memphis already.

_**Jessalinn's POV**_

I clicked 'submit' and printed my e-ticket. I was on my way to Memphis. I finished cleaning up my house, packed a few days' worth of clothes, called my dad to let him know I was on my out of town and prayed to God that I wouldn't run into Randy at all.

I called Mike to let him know I booked my flight, he sounded ecstatic. I spoke to him more on the phone in the last 24 hours than I have in the last year. I was finally beginning to think that I had made the right decision by breaking up with Randy for the first time in a week. I still couldn't tell though; it was like my head was so messed up. On one hand I wanted the excitement of being with someone new, on the other hand I missed the stability of Randy. It was definitely messed up.

I still hadn't called my sister Kait. I decided to surprise her. I checked her schedule and found out that she was also going to be in Memphis. Everything was working out in favor for the first time in almost two y years.

Vince had called me bright and early Tuesday morning to see if I had changed my mind about coming back to work early. I explained to him that I was still pretty burnt out, but that I would be in Memphis later that day, and could fly up to Stamford later in the week if he needed me for something. I made it clear that I was still technically on vacation. Good Lord, who vacations in Memphis, he asked. I just laughed at him.

My flight landed at 5:00. I swear I was going to throw up the whole time. Have I ever mentioned how much I hated flying? Mike was supposed to pick me up at the airport. We knew that there was a chance that I might run into Randy at the airport, since he was scheduled to be in Memphis later that week for a house show too. We weren't going to worry about that right now.

The house shows in the Memphis area weren't actually until Thursday night, so we actually had all night tonight and all day tomorrow to just hang out with each other. I was starting to get just as excited as Mike was with the thought of spending some time together without worrying about looking over my shoulder for Randy.

I was sitting in the pick up area, checking my email (of course), when I felt someone standing behind me. I turned around and was greeted with the biggest smile this side of the Mason-Dixon line—Mike.

I set my laptop down on the chair next to me, and the next thing I know, I was swept up in a huge hug. He spun me around a few times before he finally set me down on the ground. We stood there for a minute, wrapped up in each other's arms, before he **finally** bent his head down to mine and his lips met mine. I missed this. Little did I know, that someone had seen this little reunion happen; I also didn't know that Randy was going to find out that I was in town within a few minutes.

Mike helped me gather my stuff and we headed off to his car.

"A little music?" he asked.

"Of course; nothing that sucks though. I have an aversion to horrible music."

"Have you ever known me to put anything on that isn't awesome?"

I laughed at him. Nerd.

_Easy come, easy go That's just how you live, oh Take, take, take it all, But you never give_

_Should of known you was trouble from the first kiss, Had your eyes wide open, Why were they open?_

_Gave you all I had And you tossed it in the trash You tossed it in the trash, you did To give me all your love is all I ever asked_

"I love this song" I said to him.

"I know, right. I must admit, it is pretty awesome. Kind of like someone I know…" he trailed.

"Oh, my God, Mike, did you just try to refer to yourself as awesome in the third person?"

"Um….Yes?"

I laughed at him, taking his hand in mine. He brought my hand to his mouth gave it a quick kiss before putting it back down in my lap.

_Cause what you don't understand is I'd catch a grenade for ya (yeah, yeah, yeah) Throw my hand on a blade for ya (yeah, yeah, yeah) I'd jump in front of a train for ya (yeah, yeah , yeah)_

_You know I'd do anything for ya (yeah, yeah, yeah)_

_Oh, oh I would go through all this pain, Take a bullet straight through my brain, Yes, I would die for ya baby; But you won't do the same_

We made it to the hotel without Mike killing us in car crash. He **might **have been a little distracted and it **might** have been my fault; because I was gently nibbling his right ear and whispering dirty thoughts in his ear while he was trying to merge in rush hour traffic. Eh, who knew that would be a distraction?

We finally made it to the Embassy Suites. He parked the car and turned the engine off. I was reaching for the door handle, when he stopped my hand. He brought my hand to his chest, and I could feel his heart beating underneath my hand. I looked at his face; his eyes were fixated on my own eyes. Damn, his eyes are so blue. His took his other hand and placed it on my cheek, gently stroking it with his thumb. His hand moved from my cheek to the back of my neck, pulling me closer to his face. His lips softly met mine. He pulled back and smiled his little smirk, leaned in and kissed me again, this time a little harder; his tongue pushed my mouth open and starting wrestling gently with mine. His hands moved from my neck to my hair, tangling his fingers in my curls. My one hand was still on his chest, and I could feel his heart start to beat faster, my other hand was resting on his thigh, inching its way towards the button on his jeans.

He broke the kiss with a gentle bite to my bottom lip.

"We should go inside and finish this…" he trailed off.

I was seeing stars, so I just nodded. He was out of the car before I could say anything, opening my door for me. I sat there, dazed for a couple of seconds. By the time I had gotten out of the car and shut the door, he had already unloaded my bags from the truck. With my suitcase trailing behind him, he put his free arm around my waist and headed towards the lobby.

"Does anyone know I'm going to be here" I asked him, worried that there might be a scene in the lobby when I walk in.

"Hmmm….I don't think so, unless you called Kait."

"Nope, thought I'd surprise her later. After I'm done with you, of course" I replied, winking at him. He smirked that sexy smirk again and started walking a little bit faster.

We had almost made it to his room, when I heard someone holler my name in the hallway.

"Shit." I heard him mutter under his breath. "So close."

I turned around to see who was hollering. It was John Cena.

"Hey, John. How's it going?" I said trying to be causal, like it was no big deal that I was supposed to be at home in Houston, taking a break, instead of headed into Mike's hotel room.

"Good, good, good. Are you back?"

"No, just visiting."

"Damn. I thought we were going to see Miz and Orton go at it at the house show Thursday night."

"Sorry."

"Hey, it's cool. You kids get settled in and I'll go call Vince and let him know that you're back early and then I'll go find Randy and let him know that he can get warmed up" John said, rubbing his hands together, excited that he thought he was the first person to know that the fight between Miz and Orton was on.

"Just a minute there, Cena. She just told you that she isn't back to work yet. She just came to visit me. So why don't you just take my advice, shut the fuck up, and go away" Mike spat at him.

"Wow, Mike. Wow. You are testy little fucker today, aren't you?"

"Hey, guys, knock it off. There will be no fight going down tonight, because I am **not** back. I'm visiting. So, John maybe you should take Mike's advice and go about your business. Come on, Mike, let's go" I said to John and then turning my attention back to Mike.

Mike grabbed my hand and we continued down the hall to his room. He unlocked the door and held it open for me. I went to sit in one of the chairs, but on my there, I was grabbed from behind by the waist, soft kisses were being placed on my neck, I managed to turn myself around look Mike in the eyes. Damn…..

Things started to move quickly. He lifted my shirt over my head and threw it on the floor, unhooked my bra and it joined my shirt. He started unbuttoning my shorts, letting them fall to the ground; all I had left on were my panties. Deciding it wasn't fair that I was almost naked and he still had on all his clothes, I stripped him the same way he did to me. Now we were both standing by the bed in just our underwear. He was pushing me back onto the bed; my arms were wrapped around his waist, my mouth traveling up his chest to his neck, trying to reach his ear. He laid me gently on the bed, moving his hands to my breasts, gently rubbing them and taking one in his mouth, I moaned softly in his ear as his teeth gently grazed against the nipple. That was all I needed in order to start pulling at his boxer shorts, he discarded my panties quickly. He was whispering my name in my ear so softly I could barely hear him; he was getting ready to push himself in, when I realized he hadn't reached over to the night stand to grab a condom.

I quickly tried to stop him. He looked at me completely confused. "You didn't grab a rubber…."

"Shit. I don't have any…" He started nuzzling at my ear again, still trying to push his way inside me.

"Mmm—Mike. Stop for a sec. You have to wear one, I'm not on the pill….." I managed to get out before he started kissing my mouth again.

He pulled away from our kiss and rolled off me. "Are you sure we can't? Maybe if…..I pulled out?" he trailed off running his hands through his hair.

I couldn't do this without one. No matter how hot and bothered I was for him right now, I couldn't let this happen without protection….Shit.

He sighed and then rolled off of the bed and started looking for his boxers and pants. He didn't find one in his wallet or in his suitcase. This is where we had to stop. Bummer. He looked so frustrated that I thought he might jump in his car right now and head to a Wal-mart. Then I realized that I had one in my purse. He was in the bathroom with the door shut, slapping the door in frustration. I took the one out of my purse and slid it under the crack of the bathroom door. Not even 5 seconds later he swung the door open with it on and picked me up, threw me over his shoulder and practically sprinted to the bed! I have never laughed so hard in my life.

He threw me on the bed and climbed on top of me, whispering "Ready, ok me too" and pushed his way in. He buried his face in my neck as I giggled at him. He was moving in and out with a natural rhythm that felt so good, I almost screamed. I guess I really did miss him a little bit. He slowed down and gave me a very soft kiss on the lips before whispering, 'Thank you, Linny." He smiled and continued on and I enjoyed every second of it.

I had only been in Memphis for a total of four hours and I have never been this glad to have jumped on a plane on a whim and fly somewhere. I was lying in bed with Mike watching tv. He was absentmindedly playing with my hair while we watched some bad movie from the 1980s. I kept hearing my phone beep, knowing that I should probably get up and go through my messages, but I was just too damn content to lay in bed with him.

The constant beeping must have been bothering him, because he stopped playing with my hair. "If I hear your phone beep one more time, I will take it and throw it in the pool. Just saying…." he smirked.

"Wow. Cena was right. You are a testy little fucker today" I laughed, ducking out of the way of him trying to attack my neck.

I found my panties and his shirt that he had taken off, ok the one I ripped off of him, and pulled it on. He whistled at me. Nerd. I walked over to the desk where my phone was and checked my missed calls first-dad, Vince, Kait, Abby, Randy (really?), Cena (huh?) and Vicki (hoo-ray); then I checked my texts—Kait, Debra, Abby, Abby again, Kait again, Mike (really?) and Randy.

"Did you seriously text me while I was in the bathroom earlier?"

"Yeah, I was telling you to hurry up in there."

"You. Are. A. Nerd."

"I think you meant to say 'Oh, Mike, you are so awesome, please, please, please do me again right now!'"

"No, pretty sure I meant that you are a nerd." I loved being able to tease him like this.

I didn't plan on calling anyone back until tomorrow morning; it was already almost 10:00. Well, I should probably call Kait back and find out where she was.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Kait. Did you call before?"

"Yes. Thank you so much for making my whole month worth living by calling me back. I mean, I am only your sister and your BFF."

"Wow. You are in a mood tonight. What's up your butt?"

"Cody."

"Excuse me?" Did she just say Cody was up her butt? Nasty, horrible images filled my head.

"Oh, sorry. I was trying to get Cody's attention. He is in no way shape or form up my butt."

"Wow."

"I know."

"Geez."

"Right?"

"Ok, then."

"So, Miss Linn, how is Houston, do you miss me enough to come back to work yet?"

I missed my sister so much, I wanted to hang out with her so bad tonight, but I looked over at the bed and saw Mike completely engrossed in that awful movie. Really?

"It's fine. I'm doing fine. Hey, can I call you back in a few minutes? My other line is beeping."

"Oh, my God, Linn. Did you just really call me to tell me that you're going to call me back? Bitch."

"Bitch. I will call you back in three minutes." I hung up the phone, not giving her a chance to respond. I walked over to the bed where Mike was and climbed on top of him, blocking his view of the bad movie.

"Well, hello…Ready for round three already?" he laughed, reaching up to fondle a breast.

"No…Hey I was wondering something. Do you want to go with me to surprise Kait?"

"Yeah, that'd be all right. Is she in this hotel or across town?"

"Here I think. She's probably going to be headed down to the bar later tonight, so I thought I would just show up."

"Fine with me. I'm going to take a shower quick then. For some reason, I smell like sex and awesomeness. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?" he asked, winking at me.

"Nope, I know nothing about that."

"God, it's like the weirdest thing though. Some random chick I picked up at the airport, looked a lot like you, came here with me and we had the most amazing sex. She kept telling me how awesome I was…..Sure it wasn't you?"

I laughed at him. He was being a first class nerd.

"You are such a nerd, sometimes."

He pretended to be shocked.

"A nerd? A nerd? I just gave you possibly the greatest sex in the world and you call me a nerd? I am shocked." He tried pushing me off of him. But I held him down. Of course he was a lot stronger than me, but he played along.

I leaned down and whispered in his ear, "But you're my nerd. So you will like it….ok?" And then my mouth claimed his in a passionate kiss.

"If I'm going to be a nerd, can I at least be an awesome nerd?"

"I suppose…..Go get in the shower."

"Yes ma'am."

I waited until I heard the shower running before I called Kait back.

"It's been six minutes, Linn. You said you would call back in three, I almost called the National Guard!"

"Whatever. So, where are you at tonight?"

"At the Embassy in beautiful Memphis; I would much rather be somewhere else. What are you doing tonight?"

"Nothing. Sitting at home, like a bump on a log."

"You know, sis, if you came back to work, you would have something to do."

"Oh, yeah, like what?"

"You could be sitting in my hotel room with me and we could be making fun of Cody together!"

I heard Cody yell "hey now!" in the background. How on earth he put up with Kait for three years already, I will never understand.

"While that sounds like a blast, I think I'll pass and stay home tonight, alphabetizing my sock drawer."

"Oh…wait? What? How do you do that?"

"It's a skill I perfected over the last week, takes a lot of concentration."

Silence.

"You have gone off the deep end, Linn. I think you need to come back to work and do something productive with your time."

"Alphabetizing my socks is being productive."

She sighed, "You need to seek professional help, dear."

I laughed at her. "So, I'll be sitting at home doing that. What are your plans tonight?"

"I don't know. Maybe make Cody spend all his money down at the hotel bar on me."

I heard Cody yell "what?" in the background.

"Sounds fun, wish I could be there."

"Me too, Linny. Me too. Well. Mr. Impatient is ready to head out. I'll drunk dial you later, k?"

"I look forward to it. Tell Cody I said hi."

I heard her set the phone down and holler to Cody, "Cody, Linn says you're a nerd and you should stop playing your video games for five seconds and take me out on an actual date…"

"I did not! Good night Kait!"


	5. Confrontations

**Chapter 5**

It was almost 11:30 when we were finally showered, dressed and ready to head down to the hotel bar. Mike had to make sure he looked awesome enough. Sigh. We were almost out the door when he decided that it was the perfect time for an impromptu make out session against the door. Sigh. I could get used to this…..

I heard Kait in the bar before I actually saw her. She's kind of a loud drunk; not a sloppy drunk where she's falling down and spilling shit, but the kind that likes to sing bad karaoke and talk to random strangers. In fact, I think that's how she met Cody actually. Not sure. Not important.

She was sitting at a corner booth with Cody, Ted, John Morrison and John Cena. She had her back towards us when I first saw her. Hoping that she would keep her back turned so I could surprise her, I left Mike at the bar getting us a drink and headed over to her table. Some of the guys sitting with her saw me walk up, but I motioned for them to be quiet.

I leaned right down by Kait's ear and whispered, "Hey, baby, need a date?" She turned around and looked at me with her mouth dropped. Then she squealed and jumped up, grabbing me in a huge hug. We bounced around in circles for what felt like an hour, before she finally let go of me and hollered, "My best friend in whole world is back! Drinks are on Cody!" I wish I had a camera to capture the look on Cody's face. Oh, sweet, sweet, Cody….

Mike came over with my beer and must have run into Alex on the way. So now it was me, Kait, Mike, Cody, Cena, Ted, Morrison and Alex stuffed into this little booth. Life was good. Except that Cena was there. John is Randy's best friend and has been a complete ass to me since me and Randy broke up. I don't blame him, I would do the same thing if Kait had gotten her heart ripped out of her chest and stomped on. I always feel like such a bitch when I think about how I hurt Randy that night. We still haven't talked about. But it looked like tonight would be the chance we finally get to talk about it, because he just walked in the door. Damn it.

I wasn't sure if I should try to hide behind Mike and hope that Randy doesn't see me, or if I should be an adult and talk to him. Cena, being the darling that he is, made that choice for me.

"Randy, over here, buddy," he hollered loud enough for the entire state of Tennessee to hear him. Randy turned to the sound of his name being called, and when he saw me, his eyes turned that cold steel blue. Yep, I was in trouble. Mike saw what was happening and tightened his grasp on my hand. He whispered in my ear, "Do you want to stay and deal with this or take off?"

I didn't have time to answer him, because Randy was standing right next to me, grabbing my other hand, yanking me out of my seat, pulling me towards him. Mike was standing on the other side of me, ready to throw punches at Randy.

"We need to talk. Now." Randy hissed in my ear. It felt like the entire bar was staring at us, wondering what was going on. Well, everyone at our table was anyways. I looked down at Mike's hands, curled up into fists ready to unload on Randy.

Randy glared at Mike, "She'll be right back," he said dragging me out of the bar. I looked back at Mike, only to see him being restrained by Cena. Kait was being yelled at by Cody, I thought I heard something along the lines of "Let them have it out on their own. He's not going to do anything to her."

Randy was dragging me outside, his breathing was heavy and he looked really, really pissed off. His breath had smelt like whiskey when he had whispered in my ear. This was bad. This was not going to end well for me. I had broken the man's heart, given him no explanation why I was leaving him, and was avoiding him for a week and a half. To top it off, he finds out I'm in the same city as him, with Mike, when I was supposed to be in Houston for three weeks.

He took me outside and into the hotel parking lot by his truck. He pushed me up against the side of the truck, his hands on both sides of my waist, holding me there. He looked at me with those cold eyes. I had loved those eyes when they were sleepy in bed, or telling me that he loved me, or when we were laughing; but they scared me when they turned angry, and right now, I was scared shitless.

He licked his lips and then leaned down and kissed me on the mouth. I reached up and slapped him hard across the face. He took one hand off the truck, and rubbed his cheek where I had slapped him. "Feeling feisty tonight, Linn?" he laughed as he went to kiss me again. I tried to push him away before his mouth could reach mine, but he must have seen that coming because he grabbed my right arm and held it above my head. I slapped him in the face with my left hand. He let go of my right arm to rub his other cheek. We stood there for a few seconds. I was trying to figure out a way to get out of this, when he slapped me across the face. My hands instinctively went to my cover my face in case he tried to hit me again.

I was absolutely shocked. He had never hit me before. We had had fights where we would both scream at each other to the point of exhaustion, but he had never hit me before. He pulled my hands away from my face, looking me in the eyes. "I didn't want to do that, sweetie. But you left me no choice. You've been avoiding me all week." He reached his hand out to stroke my cheek, which normally would have been a loving gesture, but the way he looked at me when he did it, made me sick to my stomach. "I must have called you a hundred times in the past week." He leaned down and kissed me on the cheek softly. "But you've avoided all of my calls."

"Randy, why are you acting like this? I told you we would talk when I got back to work and you seemed ok with that."

I swear his eyes looked like they were going to shoot fire at me. He brought his face centimeters from his and whispered, "Why am**I **acting like this? Are you fucking serious? Do you have any idea on what you've done to me in the past week? Any fucking idea, Linn?"

I started to cry. Because I was scared and also I knew because he hated it when I cried. It made him feel helpless; unfortunately for me tonight, though, it made him feel in control. "Get in the fucking truck; we're going for a ride."

"I am not going anywhere with you, Randy. You have no right to treat me this way right now and you've been drinking. I know you're pissed-"

He grabbed my shoulders and pulled me towards him, "You have no idea how fucking pissed I am right now. Words can't even begin to describe how angry I am. I'm not going to say it again. Get in the fucking truck before I pick you up and throw you in there. We're going for a ride."

"No."

He picked me up and threw me on his shoulder; opened the driver side door and threw me in. "I wasn't asking." He got in and pushed me over to the passenger side, locking the door from his side before I could get out. Damn it. Where the hell was everyone? Where the hell was Mike?

He started the truck and tore out of the parking lot. I had no idea where we were going. I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket, glad that I actually had it on silent for once. I contemplated taking it out to see who it was, but decided against it when I saw Randy starting daggers at me. Shit. What the hell did he think he was going to do with me?

"Can we please pull over and talk about this, Randy?"

"No."

He drove until we were on the outskirts of town. He turned down a county road and shut the truck off. Now what?

He leaned back in the seat, closing his eyes. He must have known that I was thinking about opening the door and jumping out, because in one swift moment my left arm. He was squeezing really hard, and I was trying to act like it didn't hurt, but I swear he would break my arm in half if he didn't let go.

He finally started talking. "Six years. Six long fucking years of putting up with your crazy shit with Kait….Six years of being accused of trying to sleep my way to the top of the company by fucking the general manager…..Six long years of putting up with your father's crap. I tried not to let any of it bother me. I had you and I had my career. That's all that's ever mattered to me. Those two things kept me going day in and day out. And then one day out of the blue, you decide you're done with just like that. And to top it all off, you did it on national television."

Wow, when you say it like that, it makes me out to be the biggest bitch on the face of the earth. I felt like I had to say something in my defense, but at the same time I wanted to keep quiet and let him get it all out so I had a fighting chance of actually getting out of this truck alive.

I put my hand on his leg. "I'm so sorry, Randy. I really am. It should have happened differently" I whispered.

"What did I do so wrong, Linn, that you didn't want to be with me anymore. Was it because I never proposed?" He let my hand stay on his leg as he let out a deep breath. "Because believe it or not, I was actually going to do it the night Mizanin told me you were cheating on me. I can't believe all that you have to say is 'I'm sorry.' What about my feelings, Linn? We had been together for six years and then you dropped a bomb on me and all you can say is sorry?" His voice was quieter now, which made me more nervous than when he was yelling. "You're going to pay for this. You know that, right?"

I had no idea what he meant by that or if I was even supposed to hear that last part, he said it so softly. He started the truck and headed back in to town. He hadn't said a word to me since he insinuated that I would pay dearly for breaking his heart.

He pulled into the hotel parking lot, not unlocking the door for me yet. He leaned over and pulled my face towards his, giving my lips a soft kiss. I let him kiss me just so he wouldn't slap me again. I would do anything, well almost anything, just for him to let me get out of this truck and back into Mike's arms. Finding that I wasn't fighting his kiss, he deepened it; his tongue slithered into my mouth, taking what used to be his. His hand moved to the back of my head, taking a handful of hair and pulling my head back. His lips immediately went to my neck and he bit me hard. He let go of my hair and pulled me towards him again. He then said the words that still bring shivers down my spine until this very day.

"You belong with me. I am **not** letting you go. You can go have fun and screw Mizanin all you want for now, but just remember that I am watching you, and one day, you will be mine again." He unlocked the truck door. "Get out. And don't you even think about telling anyone about this. If I find out you told someone, Kait, Mizanin, McMahon, your fucking father, **anyone**, you will find out the meaning of pain."

I got out of the truck, barely having time to shut the door, before he slammed the truck in reverse and tore out of the parking lot.

What the hell have I gotten myself into?

_**Mike's POV**_

Where the hell was she? She had been gone with Randy for almost half an hour and I was beyond worried about her at this point. If Cena hadn't held me back when Randy grabbed her and drug her out of the bar, I would have been able to stop him. I was watching her and Randy leave the bar, when Cena cold cocked me right in the face. Kait helped me up and we ran out the door, trying to stop whatever was happening right now. We had just made it outside when we saw Randy's truck tear out of the parking lot

Shit! Where the hell was he taking her? I sat down on the bench outside the bar next to Kait and waited for him to come back. Kait tried calling her phone, but it only went to voicemail. She tried calling his phone, but it also went straight to voicemail. Kait tried convincing me that he wouldn't actually hurt her. They had been together for a long time, and he had never laid a hand on her before. Apparently, Randy had told Cody earlier that day that he just wanted to talk to her and would never hurt her. He better not have.

We finally saw his truck pull into the parking lot about 20 minutes later. They sat in the truck for a few minutes, I could hear him yelling at her, but couldn't make out what he was actually saying. Then the passenger side door opened and she barely had time to hop out before he slammed it in reverse and took off again, leaving her standing there.

I didn't know what to do. I couldn't move. I just stood there and watched her beautiful face break down bawling. Kait ran over to her and pulled her in a big hug for a few minutes. I watched the two sisters stand there and hug, holding on to each other for dear life. That should have been me there comforting her, but I still couldn't make myself move off the bench. Kait was whispering something into Linn's ear and that make Linn cry even harder. They finally let go of each other and Kait took one look at Linn's face, and then started screaming. Kait was dragging Linn back to where I had been sitting. I took one look at her face and neck and saw red. I was going to kill Orton.

Her pretty face was red and was starting to bruise a little bit on her right cheek; her neck had a huge bite mark on it and was starting to swell and bruise where she had been bitten. I was going to kill him. Cena and Cody had told me not to worry about her; Randy wouldn't lay a hand on her. They were wrong.

"What the hell happened?" I asked her.

She looked at me with those big brown eyes, and mumbled, "Nothing."

"Bullshit, nothing happened! Have you seen your face? That son of a bitch hit you, didn't he?"

She didn't say anything, but the tears streaming down her face said enough to know that I was right. That son of a bitch had slapped her. I put my arm around her and led her back to our hotel room; ignoring the curious looks we got from other members of the roster who had seen Randy drag her out of the bar.

Kait was behind us talking on the phone to someone. Must have been Cody because we were in the room for only a few minutes before he knocked on the door. Kait answered it, letting him in.

I was sitting on the edge of the bed with Linn, trying to get her to say something, but she wasn't talking. Kait went out into the hallway to take a phone call. She came back into the room a few minutes later, telling Linn that they were all set to go. Set for what? Was she leaving? What the hell happened?

Linn got off the bed and threw her clothes and some other stuff into her suitcase, handed it to Cody who was waiting by the door. She came over to me and gave me a big hug. She started mumbling into my chest. "I need to get out of here. I can't be in the same place as Randy. I'm gonna fly back to Texas."

"Please don't go, Linn."

She looked up at me with those sad eyes and pulled me closer. "Come home with me." I had barely heard her and had to ask her to say it again. "Come home with me." I still couldn't hear her. I asked her to repeat it again.

"She wants you to come home with her, you dumb ass!" Cody yelled at me. I shot him a death glare, but silently glad that he had clarified, because I could only hear her mumbling something.

I didn't have to think twice, I started packing up my shit and we left for the lobby. Kait and Cody ran back to their room to drop some stuff off in their room before they drove Linn to the airport.

We went to the lobby to wait for Kait and Cody to come downstairs. I checked out and sat down on the couch with Linn to wait for them. I still had no idea what had happened. All I heard knew is that Kait had arranged for her sister to get out of town quickly.

Kait and Cody showed up, finally. Cody went to bring the car around to the front of the hotel and Kait came and sat on the other side of Linn. I heard Kait mumble "Shit. Not now." I looked up to see who she was talking about, when I saw John and Randy walk through the front door of the hotel. I wasn't thinking clearly anymore; I couldn't see anyone in the room except the asshole who had obviously laid a hand on my girlfriend.

Letting go of Linn's hand, I jumped up and ran my shoulder right into Orton's side, knocking the fucker down. I was on top of him, giving him a punch to the face, when I felt someone pulling off of him before I could get another hit in. It was Cody; he must have turned around and came back in before going to get the car.

"You son of a bitch! Who the hell do you think you are?" I yelled at Orton.

Orton was wiping some blood off of his lip, smirking at me. Cena was standing right next to him, ready to grab him in case he decided to come after me. I heard Linn start to cry again behind me, I turned around to tell her not to cry, when all of the sudden Orton came charging at me, knocking me into Kait and Linn. Kait grabbed Linn and pulled her off the couch and they stood over in the corner watching us beat the hell out of each other.

I felt Cody try to pull me off of Orton again. I turned around and punched Cody in the face, knocking him backwards and turned my attention back to Orton. In the split second I had turned around to deal with Cody, he had slithered over to where Linn was standing. Kait had made the mistake of going to help Cody up and left Linn alone. Randy was standing in front of my girl with that sinister smile on his face. I started over to Orton, ready to pull him off when Cena got in my way and punched me in the face, knocking me down and making me see stars.

I watched helplessly as Randy pushed her farther into the corner and licked her bottom lip before kissing her. She tried to slap him across the face when he pulled away, but he must have known that she would have tried that, because he had grabbed her arm before she could. "See you later, Linny," he said as he walked away from her. I thought he was going to walk by me and head back to his room, but he stopped in front of me and whispered by my ear, "When you kiss her tonight, she'll be thinking of me. Enjoy her while you can, Mizanin."

A hotel worker finally came out and told us that we needed to leave now or they would be forced to call the police. We gladly left without making an additional scene. Anything to get the hell away from Randy.

_**Memphis International Airport 2:45 am**_

_**Jessalinn's POV**_

I was still shaking. I couldn't get what just happened out of my head. Randy. Randy. Randy. When we had been dating for about two years, we had gotten into this huge fight—screaming, yelling, throwing shit against the wall—and he raised his hand to hit me. But he showed restraint and said that he would **never** hit me. Flash forward four years and he broke that promise and had slapped and threatened me. What the hell happened? Oh, yeah….

My face still hurt from where he struck me; my mind still trying to process what he said to me in his truck. What the hell happened to my life? How did me and him go from being perfectly happy to this? When he dropped me back off at the hotel, Kait took one look at me and made my next decision for me—I was getting the hell out of there. **Now.**

She had called our sister Abby and told her what happened. Abby was someone we both turned to immediately when we didn't have a clue about how to handle something. She arranged for me to fly back to Houston that night. She found a flight that was leaving Memphis at 3:00. She didn't know that Mike was coming with. Hell, I didn't know Mike was coming with us until I begged him to. I couldn't be without him right now, not with the way Randy has been acting today.

I get on my second flight within 24 hours with Mike with this time. I sat next to him and we didn't say anything to whole flight. Mike kept looking at me. I'm sure he's wondering what happened that was so horrible that I wouldn't talk about. He's probably figured out that Randy had slapped me and that we had finally gotten the chance to "talk".

I just couldn't relax knowing what Randy had said. _"Enjoy her while you can…"_

We took a cab back to my house. Mike was trying to get me to say something, anything, to him on the ride. I didn't have anything to say though. I was still in shock over what had happened tonight and how my life had gone from perfect, boring yes, but still perfect to what it was now. I decided not to think about it anymore tonight, this morning, whatever time it was. I'm glad to be home. I think back to the last time Mike was at my house I grabbed my bag and went to unlock the front door. He came in behind me, his hands on my hips, turning me around to look at him. He smirked and kissed me on the lips softly. I asked what that was for. He said, "You don't even realize how beautiful you are, do you?" I just smiled and suggested that we go to bed. It had been a long day. He agreed and followed me upstairs.


	6. Reflections

**A/n: Thanks much for the reviews—much appreciated. This was a story that I had written before, posted it, didn't like it and took it down. Now I'm rewriting it, so that's why the first five chapters came up so quickly. Here's the next one. Enjoy, oh and don't forget to review : )**

**Chapter 6**

**Jessalinn's POV**

Mike followed me up the stairs and down the hall to my bedroom. We were both exhausted. I went into the bathroom to wash my face and brush out my hair. I changed into a short blue nightgown and headed back into my bedroom. Mike had already stripped down to his boxers and was sitting on the edge of my bed. A smile slowly crept up on his face as he saw me come in the room. He held out his arms for me to come over to him. He pulled me onto his lap, kissing my bruised cheek gently. "I'm glad you asked me to come home with you," he whispered so quietly that I almost didn't hear him. "I'm not going to let Randy hurt you again, you know that right?" I nodded and hopped off his lap and climbed into bed. He crawled in beside me and wrapped his arms around my waist. I was so tired after everything that had happened today that I drifted off pretty quickly; feeling secure for the first time in a few days just knowing that Mike was lying next to me tonight and that he wasn't leaving. And that maybe, just maybe, when I woke up later today, I would have a clue about what to do with the mess that I am currently calling my love life.

**Randy's POV**

I was pacing back and forth in my hotel room, the night's events running through my mind. I had had too much to drink earlier tonight in my room and had planned on just going to bed to sleep it off. But then I got a text from John saying that Linn was back in town and that he was actually sitting with her and Mike and some other people in the hotel bar. I immediately discarded my plans to just go to bed and headed down to the bar. On the way down to the bar, I went over the plan in my head. I was going to calmly ask her to come and talk with me to see if we could work this out. We had been together for six years, it wasn't fair for either of us to just throw this whole relationship away without talking about why it happened and if there was a chance to fix it. I know she was scared of me right now. I kind of liked that. It would make it easier to convince her to get back together with me.

It's safe to say that I've been obsessed with Jessalinn Austin since the first day I met her. I really did love her; she had been by my side during all of the triumphant times and all of the hard times during my WWE career. She was my whole world, I would have done anything for her, all she ever had to do was ask. Before I met Linn, I had a reputation for being a ladies man; I had my pick of beautiful women to sleep with and would then just kick out of my hotel room the next morning. But then I met her. I didn't know what it was about her, but I couldn't get her out of my head after the first time that I spoke to her. She had a hold on me, and she knew it. I swore off any other women and focused my attention on getting together with her. She resisted at first, but eventually came around and we had been inseparable ever since.

After about two years of dating she had brought me home to meet her dad and stepmom and her sisters. Since then, I've been to countless weddings, baptisms, anniversary parties, and holidays with her family. Her father hates me with a passion. He had told me the first time that she brought me home, that he would like nothing better than for his youngest daughter to kick me to the curb for good. He didn't understand that his baby girl loved me. I brought Linn home to meet my family also. My parents adored her; she got along really well with my mother and my father thought the world of her. Everything was working out in our favor. Well, at least I thought it had been. I wanted to marry her. And up until that night that I found out she had been cheating on me with Mizanin, I thought she had wanted to marry me too.

She had been hinting around for the last two or three years that she wanted to get married. I hadn't asked her yet because of how fast things were progressing with my career. I didn't want to get tied down when things were so exciting and we traveled so much. A year or two passed and she brought the topic of marriage up less and less. About eight months ago we had gone to her sister Kirsten's wedding and I thought for sure that being part of the wedding party would trigger a lot of chatter about why I haven't proposed yet. Surprisingly enough, she barely said anything about it. We still had a nice time and everything, but I was little worried when she wasn't still harping on this subject. That should have been my first clue that something wasn't right with her. I brushed it off thinking that maybe she was just tired of not getting a positive response from me about our permanent future together. The weeks after Kirstin's wedding got me seriously thinking about settling down with her. I started bringing the topic up, but never actually made a promise to propose. I knew I had to do this right; I had to call up her asshole of a father and ask his permission first.

Since I couldn't just hop on a flight to Texas and show up unexpectedly, I would have to swallow my pride and talk to him over the phone. He really hated me. At every family function that I've ever been to with Linn, all the man has done is glared at me and refused to acknowledge that I was even in the room. I could see the steam coming from his ears any time that I touched his daughter; it amused me to know that him seeing me brush up against Linn could get his blood boiling. Definitely a form of cheap entertainment for me.

_**Randy's phone call to Steve**_

"_Yeah"_

"_Steve. This is Randy Orton."_

"_What the hell do you want, douche bag?"_

"_Always nice to hear from you too, Steve."_

"_Again, what the hell do you want?"_

"_I'm calling because I need to ask you something, and I wish I could be there to talk to you man to man about it, but my travel schedule is hectic right now."_

"_What do you want?"_

"_I want to marry Jessalinn."_

_Silence. "You want to do what?"_

"_I want to marry your daughter and I'm calling to ask for your permission."_

"_You gotta lot of nerve you son of a bitch…."_

"_Look. I know you don't like me, and truth be told, I don't care much for you either. But I am absolutely head over heels for Linn. I know her well enough to know that unless her daddy approves, she won't say yes."_

"_Huh."_

_Silence._

"_So, are you going to be ok with this or what?"_

"_Hell no I'm not going to be ok with this. I don't like you; for the life of me I don't know what the hell Linn sees in you."_

"_She loves me. And I love her. All I want to do is make her happy."_

"_I need to think about it."_

"_Fine. Should I call you later?"_

"_I'll call you, douche bag." _

Steve hung up on me. I guess it could have gone a lot worse than it had just gone. I waited for him to call me back for three days. Finally, on the third day I had to make a choice. I could either wait for the asshole to call back or I could just propose to Linn. Amazingly enough, he called me back that night saying that I could marry his daughter, but he swore that if I ever made her unhappy he would personally beat the shit out of me. Message received loud and clear. So now you can see why I was so upset when I found out she had been cheating on me for almost a year. I was finally going to give her what she had wanted all along; an engagement ring, and then I find out that she's been sleeping with that jack ass Mizanin. With the help of some liquid courage, I made my way down to the hotel bar to confront her.

I walked into the hotel bar, calm and collected. I just wanted to talk to her. But then I saw her and Mizanin cozy in a corner booth; his hands were all over her. I saw red. Something inside of me snapped and all of the anger, frustration and hurt that I had been feeling over the past week and a half came bubbling up to the surface. I will never forget the fear in her eyes when I yanked her out of that booth and dragged her out of the bar. She looked terrified of me when I pushed her against the truck. She had slapped me across the face twice. The girl had had some power behind those slaps. But then I did the unthinkable; I slapped her back. I had never been violent towards her before. We had bickered back and forth over the years and had gotten into some pretty heated arguments. I had raised my hand to her once and stopped myself before I could follow through. I made a promise to her that night that I would never raise my hand to her in anger ever. I broke that promise tonight.

**Jessalinn's POV**

We woke up late the next morning. I usually never slept past eight, so I was surprised when I glanced over at the alarm clock and saw that it was almost noon. Mike was still sleeping peacefully beside me. I took a moment to get a really good look at him and to think about how I felt about him. The problem was that I really didn't know how I felt about him. I had been with Randy for so long and had gotten used to living day in and day out with him, that I didn't know what how to be in a relationship with anyone else. I wasn't even sure I had wanted to be with anyone right now. It was all very confusing. I was starting to think that maybe Abby was right; maybe I should have broken it off with both of them to try and regain my sense of independence. I don't know.

Six years ago I had just graduated with a Master's degree and was on my way to conquering the world. I could have chosen any job that I had wanted, but deep down I had always found the WWE fascinating. So when I got a second interview and eventually a job offer from Vince McMahon, I simply couldn't turn it down. I met and fell heads over heels in love with the Legend Killer Randy Orton. I spent the next five years blissfully happy. Then I met Mike; and he turned my perfect little world upside down. Suddenly I didn't want to settle down and marry Randy and live happily ever after; I wanted my independence back. I wanted to be free, and Mike had shown me how much fun life can be if you just let yourself go every once in a while.

So here I am now. Lying in bed with a sleeping Mike, wondering what the hell I'm going to do with him, while Randy is beyond upset about everything's that happened lately. I have officially made a mess of my life, and I guess I would just have to learn to deal with it and take the stance that whatever happened, happened.

I was getting tired of watching Mike sleep so peacefully while I was wide awake. Not fair. I poked him gently in the side. Seeing no reaction from him, I poked him a little bit harder. He stirred but didn't wake up. I pinched him. His eyes popped open and glared at me for a second before he threw his arms around me and climbed on top of me, tickling me, while I begged for mercy, trying to hold back the giggles. He stopped tickling me and leaned down and kissed me very softly on the mouth. "Good morning, beautiful," he whispered as he broke the kiss. My heart skipped a beat as I looked into his beautiful blue eyes. I whispered good morning back and pulled him down on top of me for another kiss…


	7. My Sister, the Therapist

**A/N: Much thanks for the reviews. I shouldn't tell you this, but I write faster when I see reviews; it lets me know someone is reading : ) This chapter doesn't have a lot of Randy or Mike in it, it has a lot of Linn and lets us see how conflicted she is about everything. I think most people in their late 20s can identify with this at one time in their lives—you cruise through your early and mid-20s then all of the sudden you realize you're 27-28-29 almost 30 and you start to question if you're on the right path. Well, enough about that. Read, review and enjoy : )**

**Chapter 7**

**Jessalinn's POV**

Mike stayed at my house for the next day and a half, and then he had to fly out to the next city. He would be in a lot of trouble if he missed a show, even it was only a house show. Work is work. He unplugged my house phone and hid my cell phone from me during the time he spent at my house. He said I didn't need to deal with anyone right now, that I should just focus on getting right with myself. I think he just didn't want me to talk to Randy. I knew I needed to sit down and have an actual conversation with Randy, because what happened the other night in his truck wasn't going to suffice for him. I never gave him a reason why I started cheating on him. All I had said was that I hadn't intended for it to end up like it did. I knew Randy well enough to know that he was expecting a full explanation, without any details left out. That's just how he was. Any fight that we had ever had when we had been together ended up with us sitting down and figuring out what the problem was and how we can fix it. I'm usually very agreeable when it comes to discussions like this, but for some reason, I was dreading having this one with Randy. I didn't want to be rational and mature about it; I wanted my freedom back, I wanted my sense of independence back. I wanted to be Jessalinn Austin again. I didn't want to be just 'Randy's girlfriend'. Was I going to find that by starting a relationship with Mike? Sadly, I knew the answer was probably not. But I decided to at least try and enjoy myself while it lasted and then deal with Randy and our broken relationship later.

The day and a half that Mike stayed with me was the most fun I had had in a long time. He would do anything to make me laugh. We got along really well. So well that I had almost forgotten about how my life had been turned upside down in the past week or so. Tonight was the last night he was going to spend with me and then he was flying out early in the morning. I managed to get him to tell me where he had hidden my cell phone. He sat on the couch watching football while I checked my messages. I had ten voicemails and about 50 text messages; damn, my phone had only been shut up for a day. It never stops, seriously.

I read an interesting text from Randy while Mike was absorbed in the game on tv.

_Linn, I'm sorry for the other night. I think we need to talk. I promise to be nice. Call me when you get a chance. _

He was sorry? What was he sorry for? For scaring me, for yelling at me, for slapping me, for threatening me? I hope he was sorry for all of those. I also hoped he was sorry for turning me into the person I am right now—scared and unsure of who I am. I don't like being this person; I want to be me again.

"Everything ok, Linn?" Mike said softly, as he noticed the intense look on my face while I looked at my phone.

"Uh, yeah. Everything is fine. Why?"

"No reason. Just kinda looked like you were upset. Do I have to take your phone away again?" he said with a smirk.

"No. I need it."

"For what? I'm already sitting in your living room, so it's not like you're sitting around waiting for me to call, I'm already here!' he said with a big cheesy smile on his face.

I giggled at him. He could be so conceited sometimes. I loved it. "You are a nerd, Mr. Mizanin. A really big nerd," I said I threw a small pillow at him, missing his head by just an inch or two.

"Hey, now. That could have hit me and it could have messed up my perfect hair. Be nice to me, Linn," he pouted.

I got off the chair and walked over to him, sitting down next to him and leaning my head on his shoulder. "Thank you for being here with me," I whispered as he took my hand in his.

"Glad you wanted me to be here. I….I really like you, Linn. You know that right?" he said softly, his blue eyes searching my brown ones to try and find out how I really felt about him.

"I like you too, Mike. I think we should slow down, though. I just got out of a really long relationship and I don't think it would be good for me to jump into something new so quickly. Do you understand?" I asked nervously.

He didn't say anything for a few minutes. Then he finally nodded his head, "I can deal with that. I know that things are kinda up in the air for you right now, but I think I should let you know that I really do like you, might even love you, and that I really like spending time with you. Oh, the sex is awesome too," he said with a big grin.

I pushed him away. "You are such a nerd, Mike."

"Yeah, but I'm your nerd, you said so yourself, babe."

I giggled at him and asked what he wanted to tonight. We decided to watch a movie instead of going out and hitting the bars. It would be a nice quiet night in. Yeah right. We fought for the next half an hour over what movie to watch. Everything I picked out wasn't awesome enough for him; everything he picked out had blood and guts. We finally compromised on something and laid down together on the couch—him laying behind me with his arms wrapped around my waist.

The next day he was getting ready to leave. Mike's flight was leaving in an hour and he was hesitating about leaving me alone. I reassured him countless times that I would be fine. I swore up and down that I would be back to work in a few days and that we could spend some time together then. I dropped him off at the loading zone and got a soft kiss on the lips before he got out of the car and promised to call when he landed.

I watched him walk inside before I took off for home again. I pulled into my driveway and got out of the car and headed up the front steps. I unlocked the front door and settled on the couch, grabbing the house phone on my way. I checked the caller id and saw that my sister Abby had called while I was bringing Mike to the airport. I decided to call her back right away instead of having her call me a hundred times before I finally answered.

"Hey, Abby. It's Linn. Did you call earlier?"

"Yeah, I did. I was just calling to check up on you. I haven't talked to you in a few days. Have you had a chance to talk to Randy yet?"

I knew she would ask me about Randy right away. She was probably the only one of my sisters that had taken the time to get to know him and got along with him pretty well. I'm sure after he found out I had been cheating on him, he had called her right away. "Um, yeah for a little bit. He's pretty mad at me."

'Can you blame the guy?"

"Guess not."

"Are you dating Mike now?"

"I don't think so. Why?"

"What do you mean you think so? You either are or you aren't. It's not rocket science, Linn."

"I don't know, Abby. I don't know anything anymore. I don't even know who I am anymore."

Silence. "Is that why you broke up with Randy? Because you're having identity issues?" What question. Only Abby would ask me something like that. Have I mentioned that Abby is a therapist? I probably should have; this is why she asks such open questions and why she is the first person I run to when I need advice.

"I don't know. I think so. It just feels like…like I lost **me** somewhere along the way when I started dating Randy."

"And do you think that by getting rid of Randy and starting to see someone new, you are going to find yourself again?" she asked softly. I knew what she was getting at. She was trying to see if I really didn't love Randy anymore and that's why I did this to, or if it was because I was confused about who I've become.

"I don't know if want to be with Mike. I don't know if I want to be with Randy. I don't know if I want to be alone. I don't know anything anymore, Abby," I said softly as my voice started to break, the tears were coming. "I just want to be me again. Can you understand? Does that make any sense?"

"It does make sense, Linn. It really does. I think the best thing you can do right now, is to break off whatever it is you have going on with Mike right now. Then you need to sit down and talk to Randy. You need to explain to him what you've been feeling lately and why you've been so unhappy with him. I probably don't need to tell you this, I'm hoping you feel bad about it, but you broke that poor man's heart with what you and Mike did to him. I can understand that you were unhappy. But Jessalinn, you did it on national television. Not only did you hurt him by cheating on him, but you embarrassed him. I hate to say this, but you should really be ashamed of yourself."

"Abby, I'm sorry. I don't want you to be disappointed in me. I didn't want to hurt Randy, but things just happened so fast with Mike and it all happened before I knew it. I feel really bad that I hurt him….." I trailed off, wiping the tears away from my face.

"I know you feel bad, baby, But you need to do the right thing and talk this over with him. If you aren't going to take him back, then you need to at least apologize to him."

"Ok. I will. I'll give him a call."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

I talked to Abby for a few more minutes before we finally hung up. I tossed the phone down next to me on the couch. I closed my eyes and counted to ten. I didn't want to call Randy. I didn't want to break it off with Mike. I didn't want to be alone. I didn't want to do any of the things Abby suggested to me. I just wanted to be, that's all. Just be. I sighed and got off of the couch and wandered upstairs to my bedroom. I walked across the room and looked out the window to my backyard. I bought this house a few years ago and had had big plans for the yard; never got around to it for some reason. I sighed and flipped the radio on. I needed something to distract me. This house was too quiet. I wandered over to dresser and saw an old framed picture of me and Randy from when we first started dating that hadn't put away yet. We looked different. We looked…happy. I smiled, thinking about that day…..

_**Valentine's Day, Five Years Ago**_

_It was our first Valentine's Day together as a serious couple. We were in Houston for the weekend, so Randy and I were staying at my house. Valentine's Day just happened to fall on a Saturday this year and we didn't have a show until Monday night. Everything was lining up to be a perfect weekend. Randy had been quiet all week about the special night he had planned for me. I let him plan the whole night. I trusted him._

_He told me to be ready by 7:00 because we had reservations at 7:30. I was ready to go by quarter to seven, I was so excited. I had been getting ready all afternoon. I changed my outfit at least twenty times before I settled on a sleeveless black knee length dress and heels. My auburn hair was curled and held back by two barrettes. Randy showed up at my door right at 7:00 looking devilishly handsome in a black suit with a red shirt underneath. We were quite the striking couple. He held my arm and helped me into his car. The radio was playing softly as we drove across town to the restaurant. I loved this song._

_**Have I told you lately that I love you Have I told you there's no one else above you Fill my heart with gladness take away all my sadness ease my troubles that's what you do**_

_**For the morning sun in all it's glory greets the day with hope and comfort too You fill my life with laughter and somehow you make it better ease my troubles that's what you do**_

_I was a little shocked to hear Randy singing softly along to the song. He glanced over at me and caught my eye, smiling. He took my hand in his and we continued to drive to the restaurant. Dinner was perfect. Everything was perfect. I never expected Randy to be able to pull off planning such a nice evening. I had my camera in my purse and asked the server to take our picture. Randy put his arm around me and we smiled. I looked at the picture on the screen and saw the world's perfect couple. The look of adoration in his eyes when he looked at me, was unlike I had ever seen from a man before. Randy made me feel like the only woman in the world. There was a lull in the conversation when I heard that same song from the car ride over here started to play. There was a small dance floor set up in the front of the room. Randy must have heard the song too, because he gently took my hand and led me out to the dance floor. I felt his strong arms wrap around my waist as he pulled me closer to him. I rested my head on his chest as we slowly moved to the music._

_**There's a love that's divine and it's yours and it's mine like the sun And at the end of the day  
>we should give thanks and pray to the one, to the one Have I told you lately that I love you Have I told you there's no one else above you Fill my heart with gladness take away all my sadness ease my troubles that's what you do<strong>_

_**There's a love that's divine and it's yours and it's mine like the sun And at the end of the day we should give thanks and pray to the one, to the one And have I told you lately that I love you Have I told you there's no one else above you You fill my heart with gladness take away my sadness ease my troubles that's what you do  
><strong>_

_As we slowly danced together, Randy leaned his mouth down by my ear. "Do you realize that you are the only woman I've lasted more than six months with? There's something about you, Linn, that I like. A lot. I know it's soon, and I know I'm going to sound like a pansy by saying this, but I think I'm starting to fall in love with you." He kissed me gently on the ear and pulled me closer to him. That was the night I felt myself fall in love with him too. Everything was perfect. We were young and we were starting exciting careers together and we had each other. The world was perfect_

I snapped back to reality, listening to that song. I smiled, thinking about what a perfect night that really was. It was the first time Randy opened up and told me how he really felt about me. It was the first time we both connected on a new level with each other. It was also the first night we made love. I know you are probably thinking, yeah right, Randy probably got her into bed on the first date. Didn't happen that way. He liked me enough to be patient and wait for the right time. That's when I knew that I was falling in love with him. Flash forward another five years and I'm breaking his heart and ruining his life. I knew I had to do the right thing, I thought as I looked at that picture of me and Randy smiling into the camera. I had to call him and tell him why. I was scared, but I had to do it. Abby was right, I couldn't keep running from this and I Randy an apology, a big one.

I found my cell phone, dialed his number, took a deep breath before I hit send and waited.

"Yeah?"

"Randy, it's Linn. I think I owe you an explanation…."


	8. Do you still love me

**A/N: Here is the next one. This is a complex o/c. She's struggling within herself; she doesn't know what she wants. How long do you think Randy and Mike are going to put up with her indecisiveness? Read, review and enjoy : )**

**Chapter 8**

Randy didn't say anything after I told him that I owed him an explanation. I thought for a second he had already hung up on me. "Randy, are you still there?" I asked softly, hoping that he hung up on me so I wouldn't have to do this right now.

"Yeah, I'm here. Where are you?"

"Houston. Where are you?"

"Just crossed the state line; I'm about three hours from Houston. I have a show in Dallas tomorrow night."

"Oh. I must have looked at the schedule wrong. That's weird that you're driving in to Dallas; Mike just flew out to Knoxville." I regretted those words the second they left my mouth.

"I don't want to hear about Mike. I don't want to hear about how happy you are now with him instead of me. You do owe me an explanation, and it better be a damn good one too, Linn. I deserve to know why you just threw everything we had built together away for an asshole like Mizanin."

"It's a long story."

"I have a long drive. Start talking."

I hesitated. I really didn't want to do this over the phone now that I knew that we were actually in the same state. I was taking a chance here. "How long until you would get to Houston?" I said asked softly.

"Just under three hours. Why?"

"You can definitely say no here, but would you be willing to see me tonight? I think it would be easier to talk if we were face to face and not just over the phone."

"Really. You want to see me tonight? You didn't seem too happy to see me the other night, Linn. In fact, the last time I saw you, you looked pretty scared. I scared you so much that you hopped a flight home that same night. Don't think that I don't know about these things, Linn. I know everything. You can't hide from me. I also know that your little boyfriend came home with you too. How was that, Linn, sleeping in the same bed with him that you used to sleep with me in? Can he make you moan like I used to? Huh? Did he make you feel like the only woman in the world? Does Mizanin have scratches up and down his back because he made you feel so good?"

I didn't know what to say, so I didn't say anything. He was still angry and being defensive, I knew that if I just let him blow off steam eventually he would stop. "I'll be at your house by five. You better be there." Then he hung up.

I sat there looking at the phone for a couple minutes wondering how this was going to end up turning out for me later. Randy was actually on his way here. This wasn't good. Not for me anyways.

I spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around my house, waiting for Randy to come over. I had no idea what I was going to say to him once he got here. He wanted an explanation and he wanted a good one. The sad thing was that I didn't have a good excuse. I don't know what happened. We had been fighting and I left that night. I ran into Mike at the bar and got drunk. I let him kiss me. That was my first mistake, letting him kiss me. Being drunk was no excuse, I still let it happen. My second mistake was letting it happen again, but this time I had let it go farther and I slept with him. My third mistake was after Mike suggested that we stop sleeping together because I had a boyfriend. I ignored what he had just said and I kept seeing him. This was all on me. I had done this to mine and Randy's relationship; I messed it up.

I let Mike believe that we had something special together, which is why he got frustrated enough to do what he did. And all I could do was just watch in horror as he destroyed my six year romance with Randy in a matter of minutes. I didn't want it to happen like that, especially on a televised show. I wish it had turned out differently, but they didn't and you can't change things once they happen.

It was a little after five when I heard Randy pull up in the driveway. I took a deep breath, counted to ten and opened the door. The man that I saw standing there wasn't the same cocky, self-assured Randy that everyone knew. I saw a broken man. My heart skipped a beat thinking about how I had badly I had hurt him when he found out about Mike. I moved aside so he could come in, he sat down on the couch while I closed to door softly behind him. I took another deep breath and wondered about what the hell I was going to say to him.

I sat down next to him on the couch. Neither of us said anything for a few minutes; there was nothing to say. This was the first time we had been together, calmly anyways, since I broke up with him. He was staring down at the floor, lost in his own thoughts while I looked at him nervously, my heart was beating faster. I had to do this; Abby was right, the way everything happened was horrible, I was a horrible person for letting it happen, and I needed to do whatever I could to make it better.

"Are you going to say anything, Linn?" he asked quietly, still staring at the floor. "I just drove three hours out of my way to come here."

I didn't know what to say, which is starting to feel like a common theme in my life lately. There are no words that are going to explain my actions for the past ten months. I had been an inconsiderate bitch and no matter how many times I apologized to Randy, no words going to take away the pain I caused him.

"I don't know what to say, Randy. It wasn't supposed to end up like this. I didn't want to hurt you."

"But you did. Shit, Linn. I made a living getting the crap beat out of me every night, but nothing, and I mean nothing has ever hurt like this. Why did you do it? Why did you start sleeping with Mizanin?" He was talking very quietly and refusing to look at me.

"Please look at me," I whispered. He hesitated before he brought his face to look at mine. We sat there for a few minutes, just looking at each other. His normally cold blue eyes were full of pain and hurt. Pain and hurt that I had caused him. "I'm sorry," I whispered. "I didn't want to hurt you. I was…..just really unhappy, and I didn't know what else to do, Randy. And then things started happening so fast. He was whispering all the right words into my ear; he was making me feel beautiful and desirable and wanted. I wasn't getting that from you."

"But, you are all of those things, and I tell you all the time that you are. Why didn't you just tell me that you were unhappy, Linn? Why did you have to cheat on me? What did he say that made you turn away from me? You know that if you ever wanted something, all you had to do was ask, and it's yours. There has to be a better reason for why you did what you did besides that you were unhappy. Tell me." He was still whispering. He reached a hand out and stroked my cheek with his thumb. "Tell me what I could have done to make you happier, baby. I need to know where I screwed up."

"You didn't do anything, Randy. This is all on me. I…..I don't know how to explain it, but somewhere along the way I lost me. It feels like I don't even know who I am anymore. It felt like all I had become was just your girlfriend. No one cared that I have an MBA or that I'm the youngest general manager in the WWE. All anyone saw when they looked at me, was just Randy Orton's girlfriend. I lost my identity somewhere. I lost my sense of self. "

"Was that such a bad thing, Linn, to be my girlfriend? I treated you well, we hardly ever fought. Anything you wanted, I would have gotten for you, all you had to do was ask, and I would have given you the world. I don't understand when you say you lost yourself. You are still the same person you always were. I never tried to change that, and if you say I did, then you're lying to yourself. You are smart and you've got one hell of a head for the business. You're going to do great things with this company. You know you will. I only wanted to make you happy, and up until I found about you and that asshole, I thought you were happy." He stopped talking and stood up. He pulled something out of his pocket. Tears immediately sprung to my eyes. I knew exactly what was in his hand.

"I called your father and asked him. He said he would be all right with it. As soon as he said yes, I went out and bought you this," he said quietly as he handed me the little black box. I couldn't open it. I knew I would break down and start crying hard if I opened the box. I had been such a fool. He sat down next to me on the couch. "What do we do now?"

I shook my head; I had no idea what to do. I had heard that he had called my dad, but seeing the ring box made it real. "I'm sorry, Randy. I'm really, really sorry. I know it's a poor excuse, but it just happened. I didn't even realize it was happening until it was too late. I didn't want to hurt you."

He put his arm around me and pulled me closer. We sat on the couch for a while like; both of us lost in our own thoughts. I wondered what he was thinking. He had driven out his way to come see me tonight and to hear a really good explanation for why I did what I did to him. All I could do was stutter that I didn't know why I did it, and that I was sorry. Now we're just sitting here. I wish he would say something.

"Do you still love me?" The question surprised me. It surprised me so much because it came out of **my** mouth. I couldn't believe I had just asked him that.

"Yeah. I do. Do you still love me?" He asked as he tilted my face towards him; I started to feel myself getting lost in his blue eyes. He's always had this effect on me. Once it started, I could never stop it. I didn't answer him. I just kept getting lost….

"Linny, baby, do you still love me?" he whispered as he leaned his head down and kissed my ear and very gently bit down on the lobe. "Tell me you still love me," he whispered in my ear before his lips moved down to my neck. "I need to hear you say it, baby." I couldn't let this happen. He pulled me closer to him, his soft lips met mine. I felt myself melting as I returned his kiss; his hands were wandering across my back, pulling me onto his lap. I looked down at him as I straddled his lap. I leaned down and kissed him full on the mouth, enjoying the taste of him. His hands wandered down to my lower back, settling on my hips. Things were about to heat up, when we were interrupted by the sound of my cell phone ringing. He gently pushed me off of his lap and got off the couch to find my phone. He looked at the caller id. "It's Mike….." he said softly, as I watched in horror as he answered the call.


	9. Just a kiss in the moonlight

**Chapter 9**

**Randy's POV**

I smirked at the horrified look on her face as I picked up her phone and answered it. She was going to be pissed at me. I decided to give her little boyfriend a piece of my mind "Yeah," I growled into the phone.

"Who the hell is this?" Mike answered back.

"Randy. What the hell do you want, Mizanin?"

"I want to talk to Linn. Why the hell are you answering her phone? In fact, what the hell are you doing with her in the first place? She chose me over you, asshole."

"Well, I was just about to kiss her again, but her damn phone kept ringing. Do you have that problem too? Actually, it doesn't matter, because you won't have that problem anymore," I said as I glanced over at her, trying to read her face about whether or not we were going to get back together. I knew I was being a jerk to her right now by talking to him, and that she was getting mad at me by talking to her little boyfriend while she watched. Good. Serves her right.

"What? Why the hell are you there? Give the phone to Linn!"

"Uh, no. I'm here because she needed to apologize to me, which she did. By the way, she called you a mistake and she's sorry. And we were just in the middle of making up when you decided to ruin the party. Now, can I take a message for you so I can get back to what I was doing before you so rudely interrupted?"

Linn walked over and tried to grab the phone away from me; I gently pushed her back and turned away from her. I was just getting started. She came back at me; I held the phone out of her reach. I smirked as I watched her try and reach the phone; I wasn't giving in to her to this time.

"Randy, give me the damn phone," she said it quietly, but I knew her well enough to know that inside she was just seething at me. She's always had good control of her emotions; I knew I was going to pay for this once I hung up the phone, she would scream at me, I would kiss her and make her forget why she was so mad in the first place.

"She'll call you back, Mizanin. But before I let you go, I just wanted to let you know, that she kissed me first tonight, and I know she wasn't thinking of you when she did it. I told you to enjoy her while you can, I hope you did, you son of a bitch. Because she's mine again, and I suggest you stay the hell away from her or you'll find out what pain is all about."

Then I hung up the phone and tossed it on the coffee table. I looked down at her pretty face all pissed off at me. In one swift movement, I was next to her, wrapping my arms around her waist as my mouth crashed down on hers. She tried pushing me away, but I was a lot stronger than her. I kissed her with more passion than I have had with her in months, I increased the intensity as I felt her kiss me back. She was giving in, I knew she would, she was never able to resist me when I kissed her like this. I felt her arms wrap around my neck and she pulled me closer to her. I backed her up towards the couch as she fell backwards and I climbed on top of her. She was tugging at the bottom of my shirt, wanting me. "Baby, let's go upstairs," I breathed in her ear and I pulled her off the couch and leaned down to kiss her sweet mouth again. She nodded and followed me upstairs…

**Jessalinn's POV**

The only thought running through my mind as Randy traced small circles around my little tattoo with his finger, is that I can't believe I just did this with him. I gave in; he's always done this to me, I've never been able to resist him. Everything I said a short while ago about not wanting to be with him anymore and how I needed to find myself, just flew out the window. I was slick with sweat and still reliving the pleasure he just gave me, wrapped up in his arms as he absentmindedly placed soft kisses on my shoulder.

"Linny…get back together with me. I don't like not being with you," he whispered as he nibbled on my neck. I shivered with pleasure. "We belong together, I'm sorry for whatever I did to turn you away from me….he can't make you feel the way I can. He can't love you the way that I do. You know that….."

Now what was I going to do? The whole reason I cheated on Randy in the first place with Mike is because the passion had died out of our relationship. It looked like it was back now. What do I do with Mike? I actually liked him, but I can't like him as much I thought I did, because here I am, enjoying the remaining tingle in my legs from the passionate love Randy had just made to me. Shit. Now what was I going to do? Do I kick Randy out of my bed and tell him it was a mistake and apologize to Mike, or do we just try and forget the whole Mike thing and Randy and I get on with our lives? I was screwed. Figuratively and literally.

I pulled away from him and got out of bed, looking for my clothes that he ripped off of me the second we got into my bedroom. I could feel him watching me and I pulled on my panties and a t-shirt. I sat down on the edge of the bed. "That wasn't supposed to happen, Randy….." I said softly as I felt the bed shift as he moved closer to me.

"But it did, Linn. It was supposed to happen; we're supposed to be together. Whatever happened with Mizanin was a mistake, and I forgive you for it. Let's just forget that it happened and get back together. I want to marry you…." He started kissing my neck as I tilted my head to the side so he could get a better angle, his lips felt so good on my skin. But I needed it to stop. I couldn't keep doing this. I was going to end up right where I was before if I didn't put a stop to it.

_Lyin' here with you so close to me It's hard to fight these feelings when it feels so hard to breathe Caught up in this moment Caught up in your smile_

_I've never opened up to anyone So hard to hold back when I'm holding you in my arms We don't need to rush this Let's just take it slow_

_Just a kiss on your lips in the moonlight Just a touch of the fire burning so bright And I don't want to mess this thing up I don't want to push too far Just a shot in the dark that you just might Be the one I've been waiting for my whole life So baby I'm alright, with just a kiss goodnight_

"What do you say, baby? Do you want to get back together with me?" He had pulled away from me and was sitting next to me on the edge of the bed, taking one of my hands in his. He brought it up to his lips and kissed my fingers.

"I don't know. I don't know what I want, Randy. I need some time to think about this."

He sighed in frustration. "All right, I understand." He glanced over at the clock on the nightstand. "I need to be in Dallas in the morning."

I nodded. "Are you taking off then?"

"Yeah…when are you coming back to work?" he asked as he got off the bed and looked around for his clothes.

"Don't know, couple more days I guess. Can we talk more then?" I asked softly as I watched him put his shirt back on. He nodded.

A few minutes later, he kissed me good-bye and I shut the door behind him. I leaned against the door, closed my eyes, counted to ten and let out a deep breath. If my life wasn't a mess before, it was officially one now. I heard my cell phone start to ring. I knew who that was going to be. It had to be Mike.

I walked back into the living room and picked up my phone from the coffee table. Yep, it was Mike. I might as well get this over with.

"Hello?"

"Linn. What the hell happened earlier? Why is Randy there?"

"He was passing through town and he stopped over to talk."

"Sounded like you two were doing more than just talking. What's going on? Are you back together with him?"

"No. Well, I don't know."

"How do you not know something like that? You either are or you aren't."

"I don't know."

"Really? Really? Why do I get the feeling, that even though you promised that you weren't just playing me to get back at Randy, that's exactly what happened?"

"It's not like that, Mike."

"Then tell me, Linn, what is it? He said you two were in the middle of getting back together when I called."

"I don't know."

He sighed. "This game of 'I don't know' is getting really old really fast. I know you're having a hard time dealing with life right now, but you are going to have to make a decision. It's either me, who really likes you and you have fun with, or it's him, who you weren't happy with to begin with which is why you turned to me. I don't want to be an asshole, Linn, but I need a decision from you by the time you get back to work. I really like you and I don't want to be someone who you're just using to get back at your boyfriend."

I was stunned. He was giving me an ultimatum. I think back to the last time he gave me this exact same one. He ended up choosing for me. I couldn't let that happen again.

"Fine. I need some time to think, I'll talk to you when I'm back to work. Good night, Mike." I hung up before he could say anything else. Welcome to my life.


	10. Back to Work

**Chapter 10**

I spent the next two days at home, ignoring my cell phone and email. Well, I checked and responded to my work emails and ones from my sisters. Kait amused me to no end. Her emails begged me to come back to work soon. She was bored with Cody. I don't blame her, I find Cody boring too. Never understood that relationship and probably never will.

Both Mike and Randy called me several times a day, I ignored both of them. I had no idea what I was going to do with those two. I should have followed Abby's advice and broke it off with both of them a long time ago. The problem was, was that I wanted both of them but I knew I couldn't have it both ways. I wanted Randy because I had been head over heels in love with him for so long and we had been through so much together; he was familiar. I wanted Mike because he was something new and exciting and made me feel things that Randy couldn't. It was a mess and I knew the right thing was to stop leading both of them on, which was going to be hard considering that the night I apologized to Randy I ended up sleeping with him. And I had reassured Mike countless times that I wasn't using him to get back at Randy. What a freaking mess.

Today is Saturday; I'm flying out to Chicago for the show on Monday night. I was headed back to work after being out for almost two weeks. While I appreciated the time off Vince gave me, it was time to get back to work and just deal with this mess that I call my life.

My flight landed late afternoon in Chicago. Have I ever mentioned how much I hated flying? Kait was in town early for the show too, so she was going to be picking me up from the airport. I was waiting for her in the pick-up area when I felt someone sneak up behind me. I turned around and silently groaned. It was my good buddy John Cena aka Randy's BFF.

"Finally coming back to work, Linn?" he asked quietly as he waited for his rental car to be brought around.

"Yeah, figured it was time to come back and rescue my show from Vickie. How did that go for your guys, by the way?"

"Horrible. No idea why Vince chose her, we should have just not had a GM while you were out…resting."

"Huh."

We stood in an uncomfortable silence for another minute or two. Where the hell was Kait? This was awkward standing next to Cena. "So, are you and Randy back together then?"

I was shocked that he would ask me something like that. Of course I knew that Randy would tell Cena everything that happened that night at my house, but I was still surprised that Cena would have the nerve to bring it up.

"No."

"So, you're still with Mizanin then?"

"No."

"Huh. Do either of them know that you're not together with either of them?" he asked, looking confused. I don't blame him, I was confused as well.

"No."

"Gee, Linn, don't you think you should tell them? I mean, Randy's walking around on air thinking that you two kissed and made up and now everything is fine again. And you should hear the shit that Mizanin is saying in the locker room. From the way he tells it, you two are definitely an item and that you finally kicked poor old Randy to the curb and you're on your way to being a Mizfit."

"Yeah, I don't know what's going on right now," thankfully Kait had just pulled up to the curb. "Gotta run, see ya later, Cena." I jumped into the front seat of Kait's rental car and begged her to go before Cena could keep talking. John used to be one of my closer friends, but since I broke up with Randy, he's been acting differently towards me. I didn't understand it.

Kait babbled on and on all the way back to the hotel we would be staying at for the weekend. I had just pulled my suitcase out of the trunk of the car and was about the shut the trunk when it felt like someone was standing behind me. I closed my eyes, counted to five before I turned around. I found myself staring into a pair of stunning blue eyes. It was Mike.

"Hey you," I said quietly as I closed the trunk and pulled the handle up on my suitcase, getting ready to start walking towards the hotel entrance. He grabbed my suitcase for me and we started walking together. There were some other members of the roster checking in at about this time and I could feel their eyes on me and I could almost hear their whispered conversations about me. I knew what they were saying; they were talking about how I had humiliated Randy in front of thousands of people and how much of a bitch I was for doing that. I didn't care though. They had no idea what my relationship had been like with Randy and they had no idea how Mike had made me feel during that time I was cheating on Randy. They had no idea how conflicted I was right now.

We stopped at the front desk so I could check in and get my room key. Mike stood next to me, softly telling me to ignore everyone that was standing around and staring and whispering at us. I turned and faced him, "It's kind of hard to do that, Mike. I know what they're saying about us. I don't like it. Maybe I should have taken some more time off." The clerk handed me my key and I thanked him as Mike and I walked towards the hallway down to my room.

We walked in silence for a few minutes before he finally started talking. "I'm glad you're back, Linn. I've missed you," he said as he took my right hand in his and we continued walking. I smiled, feeling his skin against mine. I know I needed to make my mind up soon and I also knew that I didn't want to hurt either of them.

Mike followed me into my room and set my suitcase down. I kicked off my shoes and sat down on the edge of the bed; he came over and sat down next to me, leaning his head on my shoulder. We sat like that for a few minutes before his hands started to wander and his mouth started placing soft kisses on my neck. "I missed you, baby,: he whispered in my ear before he shifted his weight and crawled on top of me, both of us were lying on the bed now as his hands continued their wandering ways. He finally brought his mouth down to meet mine, as our kissing intensified I heard a knocking at the door. Mike must have heard it too, "Ignore it," he said as he lifted my blouse up and off of me. He took his t-shirt off as well, and the feeling of his warm skin against mine made me want to scream out in pleasure. His mouth started exploring my collarbone and was moving south very slowly. My fingers were running through his hair, encouraging him to keep touching me with his mouth. His hands wandered down to my hips and started working at the buttons on my pants when we heard someone knocking on the door again, this time a little bit louder. "Ignore it," he said again. I started to wonder who was pounding on my door when I had only been here for maybe fifteen minutes. I was distracted by wondering who was at the door, that I didn't notice that he had unbuttoned my pants and was now working them off of my hips, kissing his way down as the pants came off.

He kissed his way back up to my neck, biting gently, causing me to growl softly at him. The smirk on his face when I did that, told me that was the reaction he was going for. His mouth crashed down on mine again as I heard the knocking, which had now turned into banging, had gotten louder. Mike closed his eyes and sighed, rolling off of me and started towards the door to find out who was so insistent on ruining our little reunion.

I heard Mike open the door and then I heard someone let out a loud growl of frustration as Mike came flying back in the room, hitting his back on the dresser as the came back in. I jumped off the bed, forgetting for a second that I only had my bra and panties on. I grabbed Mike's t-shirt and held it over my frontside. I wanted to scream when I saw who had been pounding on the door. Randy was standing in the entrance of my hotel room, his face red, his nostrils flaring, his blue eyes had that cold look to them again as he stared down Mike. "Get up you son of a bitch," Randy growled at him.

Mike stood up and walked over to face Randy. I had to do something and I had to do it quickly. I threw on Mike's shirt and stepped in between them, just as Randy had pulled his arm back to throw a punch at Mike and I screamed as I felt his fist collide my face instead of Mike's…


	11. I Quit

**Chapter 10**

The pain in my face made me drop to my knees. I've never been sucker punched like this before; it freaking hurt. I know it was an accident, and that Randy had been aiming for Mike, but it still hurt and I was still shocked that it had happened. Both Randy and Mike were immediately by my side trying to comfort me and help me up.

"Shit, Linny, I'm so sorry, baby, I was aiming for that asshole when you got in the way. Are you ok?" Randy asked in a panic, putting his arm around me. I nodded and stood back up and backed away from both of them. I could tell from the look in Mike's eyes that he was just seconds away from unloading on Randy. I put my hand on his arm to settle him. He looked at me confused, like he couldn't understand why I didn't want him to beat the holy hell out of Randy right now.

"Settle. It was an accident," I whispered to Mike. He relaxed for a split second before I felt him tense up again.

"The hell if it was an accident, Linn. He's hit you before, what makes you think that he didn't do it on purpose!" Mike eyes were blazing with anger; he wasn't looking at me though. His gaze was fixed on Randy.

"It was an accident! She got in the way. I would never hurt her!" Randy shot back. They were standing toe to toe again, I sighed and walked away before I got in the middle again and got hurt more. I walked over to my suitcase and pulled out a pair of jeans and a tank top. I took Mike's t-shirt off and tossed it on the bed. I pulled on my jeans and pulled the tank top over my head. "Maybe you should leave," I said softly while I looked at the floor.

They were confused. "Which one of us are you talking to?" Randy asked.

"Obviously, you Orton. You showed up and ruined everything. I don't know why you can't just admit that you lost and I won. You're such a douche bag. I can't believe you sucker punched her! Now she's going to have a black eye," Mike interjected.

"No, she must mean you, Mizanin. We were well on our way to getting back together and here you come along, trying to get her into bed again. Linn, you know that the only thing that this jerk off wants from you is sex, right?"

"I want both of you to leave," I said softly again, clarifying that I didn't want either of them here anymore. I was done. This was the end. I couldn't keep doing this. It was too much for me.

"Come on baby, you don't really want me to leave do you?" Mike asked as he came closer to me. I gently pushed him away and nodded. "I want both of you to leave. I can't do this anymore."

Mike sighed and grabbed his shirt off the bed, pulling it on over his head. "I don't get you, Linn. I really don't. Maybe I should have stayed away from you from the beginning. Because obviously you have baggage that I don't want to claim." He started walking towards the door. With his hand on the door knob, he turned around and looked at me one last time. "Call me when you've made up your mind for sure. Because I sure as hell can't keep doing this. This decision is all on you now. Make the right one and leave this asshole for good. Because you and I both know that he doesn't make you happy anymore, no matter what he's been whispering in your ear" And with that, he shut the door behind him and I was left alone with Randy.

"Baby, you know I didn't-" I cut him off by placing my hand on his chest and shaking my head.

"No more, Randy. I want you to go too. I know you didn't mean to hit me; it was an accident. But right now, I need time to think."

"Linn, you have had almost two weeks to think about what you're going to do!"

"No, I haven't, Randy. I've had two weeks of both of you trying to get me to stay with you. I can't do this anymore. Do you have any idea how hard it is to choose between the two of you?"

He shook his head. "I love you." I nodded, I knew he loved me and I knew he still wanted to marry me after everything that's happened lately. That said a lot about him. He was either a damn fool or a man in love.

"Please go," I whispered, refusing to look at him. Because I knew if I did I would end up back in bed with him and this cycle would start all over again.

"I love you," he said again, as he reached out to touch my cheek. I winced in pain at the feel of his hand on my face. "I'm sorry," he whispered as he walked away from me and headed towards the door. He looked back at me one more time as he put his hand on the doorknob. I sat down on the edge of the bed and watched the door close softly behind him.

_**Two Weeks Later**_

It's two weeks later and I've managed to almost avoid talking to both Randy and Mike unless it was absolute necessary. Because of Vicki's ruling while I was out on leave, I had to make the match between Mike and Randy happen. Summer Slam was coming up in about another week or so, and that's when the showdown was going to happen. I made the match, much to the excitement of the WWE Universe and also Mike and Randy's excitement, but not to mine. I didn't want this to happen; I didn't want them to fight it out. I wanted everything to go back to the way it was before; before I started cheating on Randy, before I started sleeping with Mike. Hell, nothing would make happier than if I could go back to my college graduation and choose a different job than the one that Vince offered me. But, the past is the past, and the present is what it is. The future is the only thing that I could change and it was time to start working on that.

It was the Monday Night RAW two weeks before Summer Slam and I had just announced in the middle of the ring that the second main event for the PPV would be Randy Orton versus the Miz. The crowd was going nuts and both men were standing in the ring with me. I made damn sure that I wasn't closer to either one of them; I knew they were both still pretty peeved at me that I had broken it off with both of them and that I hadn't made any effort whatsoever to try and reconcile with either of them. I was enjoying my status as a single woman. Kait had almost persuaded me to go out on a double date with her and Cody. My date would have been Ted DiBiase Jr. I politely declined. It's not that I didn't think Teddy was a great guy or anything; I just didn't need to bring another man into my twisted love life. It wouldn't be fair to the two guys already wrapped up in it.

Anyway, back to the ring. I had just made the announcement and Mike and Randy were staring each other down and I was about to hop out of the ring when Mr. McMahon's music hit. Vince was at every taping, but he rarely came down to the ring anymore, so it was a quite a surprise when he decided that he was going to show up tonight. I stepped back in the ring and Mike moved closer to me; Randy saw this and grabbed Mike by the arm to pull him away from me. I rolled my eyes at both of them and walked away, closer to Vince. There was nothing in the script tonight about Vince making an appearance, well nothing that I was aware of anyways.

"I've got one more stipulation to add to this match, boys," Vince said with an evil smile. "Actually two more stipulations. The first one is that this will be an "I Quit" match!" Mike and Randy were shocked; obviously they had no idea that this was coming either. "And the second stipulation, Miss Austin, you are going to love this one," he said as he glared in my direction. I knew he was still upset with me about the whole Mike/Randy/Me confrontation about a month ago, so it didn't surprise me that he would cook up something to upset me. "There is going to be a special guest referee for this match as well. Any guesses on who?" he asked, looking at me, then Mike, then Randy. I knew they were both thinking that it might be my dad, but dad had long since retired and had made no mention to me of returning any time soon. "The special guest referee for this match is going to be…Jessalinn Austin!"

The place damn near erupted with screams and cheers. What the hell? I am not a referee? I have a business degree! I have no idea on how to referee a match! I grabbed a microphone from Mike and was going to let Vince know that I was **not** ok with this brilliant idea of his.

"Mr. McMahon, with all due respect, I do not know the first thing about refereeing a match like this!" I managed to squeak into the microphone.

He glared at me for a second, and then smiled that evil smile at me that he does so well. "Then I guess, Miss Austin, you had better figure it out pretty soon, because I'm the boss, and I've spoken." Then his music hit one more time and he started heading out the ring, leaving me and the two guys to stare after him. Now what the hell was I going to do?


	12. You're Going to Pay

**Chapter 12**

I was an absolute emotional train wreck during the two weeks before Summer Slam. Vince had made the stipulation that I was the special guest referee during Mike and Randy's match during the PPV. I seriously did not know the first thing about calling a match at all, much less a match like an "I Quit" match. I was screwed. Royally screwed. I was starting to seriously consider Abby's advice and quitting all together and work in a firm in Houston. Then I wouldn't have to deal with this drama that I somehow managed to create between myself, Randy and Mike. I knew that when I started messing around with Mike that I was starting to play with fire, and that I was probably going to end up getting burned.

After Vince's announcement, I headed back to my make shift office, trying to avoid everyone backstage as I try to make it to a safe zone. I am screwed. For the hundredth time since I broke up with Randy, I wished I never met Mike Mizanin. My relationship with Randy may have been stale, but at least I never had to referee a match because of it. Damn it. I had no idea how I was going to get out of this. I could just leave, quit and head home with my tail between my legs. Or I could act the 28 year old adult I was and fix my mistakes.

I made it back to my office and shut the door behind me; I needed time to think. Actually, I needed to find a damn way out of this mess that I had gotten myself into. I knew from working with Vince for the past six years, that once he made an announcement on television, like he had just done, there was no chance in hell that he was going to reverse his decision. There was no way out of this for me, I was just going to have to do it and do it fairly.

I had just picked up my cell phone and I was about to dial my dad's phone number to get some advice from him when there was a knock on my office door. I sighed and walked over to the door, wondering who needed something now. I thought it was pretty clear that when I shut my office door, I don't want any distractions. Someone must not have gotten the memo.

And Randy was the person who didn't get the memo. I sighed and moved aside so he could come in. I knew we needed to talk. I actually needed to talk to Mike as well. But I've been doing a really good job at avoiding both of them for the past two weeks. I sat down in my chair as he sat down on the couch. I wondered what he wanted. He wasn't saying anything. We sat there in an uncomfortable silence for a few minutes as stared at me and I looked everywhere else around the room but at him. I knew what he wanted.

"Are you going to say something, Randy?" I asked softly, finally bringing my eyes to look at him.

"Yeah, I should probably just come out and say it."

More uncomfortable silence. "So…are you going to say it? Or…." I trailed off.

He sighed and got off of the couch and started pacing. He would start to speak, look at me, shake his head and stop speaking. His pacing and stalling was going to drive me over the edge. I've been on edge the way it is lately, and now my ex wants to tell me something, but he won't spit it out.

Suddenly he stops his pacing and drops down to his knees in front of me. "I want you back," he whispered.

I shook my head; it wasn't going to be this easy. Somewhere deep down inside of himself he had to know that. He just had to. "Randy….I need some more time to think about this. I don't know what I want and I thought I had made it clear to both you and Mike that I need space right now from both of you," I said as I kept my eyes focused on the floor. I knew I couldn't look at him right now, because I knew that if I did, I would just end up giving in and I don't know if that's what I want to do anymore.

"You've had a lot of time to think about this, baby. You've had time to think about this the entire ten months that you were cheating on me with him, you've had two weeks to think about it while you were home in Houston, you've had another two weeks to think about it since you kicked both of us out of your hotel room. I don't want to fight Mizanin over you. I just want you back. We belong together. You know this."

I shook my head and tried to look away from him; his big hand caught my face and turned it towards him. "We belong together. We had six amazing years together, Linn. You can't throw it away like this. I won't let you. I need you in my life and you need me in your life. Call this off with Mizanin. Tell him to hit the road. Tell him you made a mistake and that you want me. Not him." He was whispering urgently right now, like a desperate man. I knew I had hurt him. I had hurt him a lot and I deserved this inner turmoil that I was facing right now. This was all my fault. If I had been so unhappy with Randy I should have just told him instead of contemplating running away with Mike. This was my fault, no one else's.

"I can't do that, Randy."

He stood up and his blue eyes briefly flashed with anger. "Why not? Just tell him you changed your mind; that's what you did to me when you started sleeping with him. Why is it so hard for you to hurt his feelings but not mine?" I stood up also, just so he wasn't looking down at me. I hated it when people looked down at me. Especially Randy.

"I can't do that because I don't know if I want you back Randy," I blurted out. I covered my mouth with my hand the second the words left my mouth. From the look on his face and the way pain was illuminating in his eyes, I knew that I had gone too far. I should have kept that to myself.

"You are a bitch, Linn. A real bitch," he said softly as he glared at me and started walking towards me. Instinctively I started backing away from him, remembering the last time he had called me a bitch and the actions he had taken against me. He kept coming at me and I kept backing up until I felt my back hit the wall. I closed my eyes and tried to remember to breathe. This would be over soon, right?

He placed one hand above my head on the wall and the other hand was gently stroking my cheek. I kept looking at the closed door, hoping and praying that someone would decide that they needed something from me right now. "I loved you so much; you must know this somewhere inside that crazy redhead of yours. I don't understand why you keep insisting on fucking it all up between us. I'm telling you that I want you back, I'm telling you that I'm going to forgive you and that I still want you. But you keep fucking it all up saying you need more time to think. It's funny that how every time you 'need time to think' you end up in bed with Mizanin. I've just about had enough of your games, Linn." He moved my face towards him so I was looking to his cold blue eyes. He smirked at me as he leaned down and kissed me on the cheek. "Do you remember when I told you that you would pay for hurting me like you did?" he asked as he whispered in my ear. I shivered at the feeling of his hot breath on my ear. He smirked at me, "You don't really want to find out what I meant by that do you, baby?"


	13. Obsessed

**A/N: Here's the next chapter. In this one, we see what's going on inside Randy's head and what Linn's infidelity and bad decisions has turned him into. I'm looking for a betareader to help me out with some plot problems; message me if you're a qualified betareader. Thanks much. Don't forget to review : )**

**Chapter 13**

_I'm not strong enough to stay away_

_Can't run from you_

_I'd just run back to you_

_Like a moth I'm drawn into your flame_

_You say my name but it's not the same_

**Randy's POV**

"Let me ask you again," I said as I looked down at Linn. "You really don't want to find out what I meant by showing you the meaning of pain, do you?" Her normally sparkling brown eyes were filled with fear. She was terrified of me right now. Good. I wanted her to be scared of me. I wanted her to feel the same pain that I felt when I found out she was cheating on me. I wanted to hurt her. I didn't want to hurt her physically; I never wanted to do that. I wanted to hurt her on the inside; I wanted her to feel what it's like to have your heart ripped out of your chest and thrown on the floor by the one person you loved and trusted the most in your life. I wanted to make her feel what she did to me. I want her to feel that pain, that hurt, that desperation when you realize that the one thing you've built your life around is slipping right through your fingers. I wanted her to feel that. I wanted her to hurt like I did right now. I wanted the pain to keep her awake at night; staring at the dark ceiling, wondering what you did so wrong that caused them to turn away from you.

I loved this woman. I loved her to the point of her being my obsession. I needed her in my life. I needed to sleep next to her every night, or I couldn't sleep. I needed her next to me in the car, or I couldn't concentrate on driving. I needed her body, I needed to feel that soft body giving in to me and letting me take over her. I needed her that badly.

_You look in my eyes_

_I'm stripped of my pride_

_And my soul surrenders_

_And you bring my heart to its knees_

Over the years I've gotten used to the fact that she was always going to be there by my side; something snapped inside me the night I found out she had been unfaithful to me. If it had been any other woman who had put me through this, I would have kicked them to the curb without a second thought. But this was Linn. This was who I was supposed to spend my life with. I put up with so much bullshit from her family—her sisters, with the exception of Abby and Kait, hated me, they thought I was a snake. They thought I was using and abusing her. I never laid a hand on her, I treated her like a queen; they refused to see that though. Her father despised me with every fiber of his being. From the very first second he found out that we were together, he did everything he could possibly think of for her to leave me. He glared at me whenever he saw us together, he would call once a week and the conversation would always turn to reasons why she should leave me. No matter what her family thought or did, she still stuck by my side. She loved me.

I put up with a lot of bullshit at work because of her too. I've been accused multiple times of trying to sleep my way to the top of this company. Never mind that my in ring and promo skills are amazing. Never mind that I'm a third generation wrestler and it's my legacy to be great in this business. Everyone thought that the only way I was getting ahead was because of my relationship with Linn. It was never like that. I worked my hardest to get where I am today. She was just along for the ride; my biggest cheerleader through it all. Until now.

Looking down at her fearful face again I now know that I have two objectives in life: 1. to destroy Mike Mizanin for trying to take this woman away from me. 2. To get Jessalinn Austin back. I couldn't let that asshole Mizanin have her. She belonged to me. I decided to remind that she belonged to me. I moved my hands down her body and settled on her hips. Her eyes got wide; I knew she was wondering what I thought I was doing. I knew she was worried that I would get physical with her again. I wasn't; though the thought crossed my mind. That would show her who the dominant one in this relationship is; right now, she just needed a gentle reminder of that. She needed to be reminded that at one point she had loved me. At one point she had needed me as much as I need her right now.

I'm Randy Orton. I could have any woman that I wanted. Hundreds of women would kill to be in her position right now; the legendary lady thriller pining over her, wanting her, needing her. But I don't want anyone else. I want her. I could leave right now and hook up with a different woman, throw it her in face and hurt her that way. But that's not enough. She needs to feel more pain than that. I need her to see that I'm the only man good enough for her. No one is going to love her like I do. No one wanted her as much as I do. She's mine.

_And it's killing me when you're away_

_And I wanna leave_

_And I wanna stay_

_And I'm so confused_

_So hard to choose between the pleasure and the pain_

_And I know it's wrong_

_And I know it's right_

_And even if I tried to win the fight_

_My heart would overrule my mind_

_And I'm not strong enough to stay away_

With one hand still on the wall next to her head, I moved my other hand down to the waistband of her jeans. Pushing the material down a little bit so her little tattoo was peeking out; I ran my fingers over the three little letters that bound her to me, causing her to let out a small tremble as the touch of my fingers ran over the delicate skin. At one point in our relationship, she had loved me enough to get this tattoo for me: RKO. It bound her to me. It was permanent. I needed to remind her of this.

"Do you remember when you got this, baby?" She nodded; her eyes still wide and nervous. She still hasn't said anything; that's how I knew that she was scared of me right now. If she wasn't terrified right now, she would have started bitching at me the second I came into her office. She was close to defeat, I knew she was. I just had to push her over the edge a little bit more.

"When you got this for me, do you know what it told me about you?" Her fearful expression never changed and she didn't open her mouth to speak, she just nodded. "It told me that you wanted to belong to me; it told me that you wanted me. This little tattoo is permanent. Just like us," I said softly as I continued stroking the ink. "You still want me, I know you do. You want to take my back, you want to give us another try, but you're just too scared to admit it to yourself or to me right now. I know you better than anyone, baby. I know you inside and out," I leaned down to kiss her forehead, her eyes closed until I pulled away from her. I smirked at the fearful look still in her eyes. "No one, and I mean no one, is ever going to love you like I do. Make the right choice; get rid of Mizanin once and for all so we can be together again."

_I'm not strong enough to stay away_

_What can I do_

_I would die without you_

_In your presence my heart knows no shame_

_I'm not to blame_

_'Cause you bring my heart to its knees_

I dropped to my knees and smiled at the confused look on her face. On my knees I was at the perfect height to start softly kissing her tattoo, running my tongue lightly around the skin. She shivered under my touch. I stood back up and placed one hand on the wall next to her head again, holding her in place. I leaned down once more and started kissing the sensitive skin on her neck; instinctively she turned her head a little so I could get better access. She must have realized what she was doing though, because he put her hand on my chest to get me to stop. And I did stop. I would have plenty of time to explore that beautiful neck. Right now, I needed to make my point clear to her.

"I'm not going away, baby. We've been through too much together. We belong together. I'll give you some more time to think it over. But I know that you'll make the right choice." I kissed her softly on the cheek and walked away from her. I looked back at her once more before I walked out the door. The terrified look on her face turned me on like nothing else ever has; that fearful look in her eyes and on her face was a good look for her. Maybe if I had made her look that way more often, we wouldn't be having this disagreement right now. I knew we would get back together again. She's just being horribly indecisive right now. I know she still wants me. I'm familiar, I know her better than anyone else in the world except maybe her sister Kait. Mizanin didn't know shit about her. I knew everything. And the most important thing that I knew right now was that we would eventually get back together again whether she liked it or not. It was going to be me and her forever.


	14. Evil Intentions

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews and story line ideas, much appreciated. This is a short chapter, taking place in Mike's POV. Leave those reviews, I'm curious to see what everyone thinks after this one. Enjoy **

**Chapter 14**

**Mike's POV**

I was roaming the halls backstage looking for her. Linn has been avoiding me for almost two weeks now. I knew she was scared that she was going to have to referee the match between me and Orton at Summer Slam. I wondered how she thought she was going to get out of it. I knew she was desperately trying to find a way around this; maybe she would convince McMahon to letting her old man be the ref instead of her. I knew all about her. I knew every time something went wrong, she went running home to daddy for him to fix it. I wanted **her** to be the ref, I wanted **her **to raise my hand in victory. I wanted to see the look on her face when I made Orton scream out 'I quit'.

I should have been declared the winner of this fight over Jessalinn Austin a long time ago. I know how I got together with her was sneaky and underhanded, but that's just how I play the game. And I thought I had won. I thought I had finally gotten one over on Orton and had won the ultimate prize: his girlfriend. I did like her, well; I liked having sex with her anyways. But the greatest pleasure in this little affair I was having with her, was knowing that every time Orton thought about me kissing his girlfriend, he was hurting inside. And that's exactly what I wanted him to feel.

I hated Randy Orton. I hated him with everything that I had. He had made my life miserable from the first day I stepped foot into the WWE. He made it clear that he thought I was nothing, he thought I was a fake, a passing trend. I hated him. I made my decision very early in my career in the WWE that I would take Orton down; and after watching him closely for a few months, I saw the one thing that kept him going, that kept him sane and focused. A pretty redhead named Linn. I vowed that I would lead her away from Orton and delight in his pain when I got her to choose me over him. I wanted Orton to feel pain.

I'm not a bad guy; I'm just a guy hell bent on revenge. I actually like Linn, she's hot, she's funny, I like being around her. Do I love her? No. Do I like her? Yeah. Am I going to say whatever I can do convince her to leave Orton for good and be with me? Hell yeah. Think of this from my perspective. I need to get ahead in this company. How am I going to do that? The same way Orton got ahead: by sleeping with the general manager. Since I've started this little feud over her with Orton, my heat has definitely gone up. I've got a match on RAW every week and at least one or two promos also. She's probably going to get hurt in the process, but I know she'll give in to me for good once I make her see what a loser Orton really is; and the greatest thing about this whole situation is that she is just insecure enough for my plan to work. I knew she was all fucked up in the head right now, unsure of what she wants, and I planned on using that to my advantage.

I was just about to give up and head back to my hotel when she came out of her office with her bag trailing behind her. I smirked seeing how distraught she looked right now. I knew this whole having to ref the match at Summer Slam and the way Orton and I kept arguing over her was taking a toll on her; she was close to breaking and I intended to be there to pick up the pieces when she finally did break.

She noticed that I was walking towards her; quickly changing the smirk on my face into a genuine smile, I saw a small, defeated smile break out on her face. She stopped walking and waited for me to catch up with her. "Hey," she said softly as she moved closer to me. "Hey," I whispered back as I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her closer to me. I felt her relax against me and I smiled knowing that I had her where I wanted her again—in my arms and away from Orton.

"Are you staying tonight or driving?" I asked her as we walked down the hallway towards the exit. I caught a couple of glares from my fellow co-workers as they saw us together again; my arm wrapped around her waist. I knew they all hated me for what I did to Orton, but I didn't care. I was going to win this one once and for all, and then we'd see who was laughing.

"Staying tonight, and then driving tomorrow morning," she said. She suddenly stopped walked and I wondered why, when I looked up from her and saw why she had stopped. Orton. Damn it all to hell. Can't this guy take a hint?

"Linn…" he said gruffly as he reached out to take her arm. She closed her eyes and when she opened them again, they had this terrified look in them. I'm not a complete asshole, I actually felt bad for her every time she looked like this. She was scared of him. I wonder what he did to make her feel that way. I also wondered how I could make her feel that way towards me. Interesting thought.

"Randy….." she whispered as she tried to wriggle out of his grasp. I knew that I should do something to stop this, but I didn't. I was intrigued. I liked seeing her like this. Scared. Terrified. Fearful. He pulled her close to him and leaned down to whisper in her ear. I couldn't hear what he was saying, but whatever it was set her off and she pushed him away from her.

"Stop," was all she said to him and she turned to me, giving me one last look, she walked away from both us of, leaving me and Orton to stand there tensely looking at each other, watching her walk away. I caught a quick glimpse of Orton's face. This poor bastard was actually all torn up over this situation. Good. I hope it hurt, because I was going to keep at it until one of them finally broke for good.


	15. Drunken decisions

**Chapter 15**

_**Jessalinn's POV**_

Summer Slam was quickly approaching and I was running out of time to get out of refereeing the match between Randy and Mike. After Randy left my office after that awkward confrontation, I was ready to head back to my hotel room, take a hot bath, drink a beer and try to sleep. My problems can't follow me in my dreams. I was just about to the exit when I ran into Mike. I knew that he was upset with me; I had been avoiding him for almost two weeks. He called or texted me every day and tried to track me down at work, but I was getting pretty good at avoiding people I didn't want to deal with. But it looks like Mike was ready to deal with me.

I let him put his arms around my waist and pull me close to him. I closed my eyes and sighed at the feeling of his strong warm body enveloping me in security and breathed in the scent of his cologne. I liked this guy; what I was doing to him wasn't fair. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew that what I was doing to Randy wasn't fair either; and he had let me know that he wasn't all right with the way I was treating him lately.

Mike started walking towards the exit with me, and I was sure that he thought he was going to be going back to my room with me tonight or somehow I would end up in his room, when I stopped walking. Randy had appeared out of nowhere. That same cold look that he had in his eyes a few minutes ago was back and stronger than ever now that he saw me with Mike even though he just got done telling me to do the right thing and ditch Mike. I had a feeling that this confrontation wasn't going to end well for me. Again. Lately, it felt like not much of anything was working in my favor.

We stared at each other for a few seconds; I felt that fearful feeling rising up in me again. It terrified me when he looked at me like this; like he was trying to intimidate me. He roughly pulled me away from Mike; his strong hand had a tight grip on my wrist. I thought about crying out in pain, but decided against it when I looked up into his cold eyes. I could tell he was furious with me.

He leaned down and hissed in my ear, "I thought you would have more sense than this, Linn. You don't belong with him."

I pulled away from him, "Stop," I whispered as I walked away from both him and Mike, leaving the two men who were fighting over me to watch me walk out the door.

Fifteen minutes later I made it to my hotel; it was almost 11:30. I set my suitcase down and debated on whether or not to just follow my original plan and go straight to sleep, or if I should give my sister Kait a call and see what she was doing tonight. In my attempt to stay away from both Mike and Randy and I also managed to isolate myself from my best friend.

I picked up my cell and waited for Kait to pick up; it rang several times before rolling over to voicemail. I hung up instead of leaving a message. I looked around the room. It looked like every other hotel room I've stayed at in the past six years. I realized that I was bored; I had no idea what to do with myself. I was still kind of shaken up from my confrontation with Randy earlier. I knew he had a temper; I knew that before we even got together all of them years ago. I had only seen it a few times while we were dating; and the few times that I had seen it, it had never been directed towards me. I found myself shuddering when I thought about the words he said to me tonight. I belong to him? He's never acted like this before. It makes me wonder why he would start this now. I couldn't kid myself, I knew why: I had broken this man's heart and he wanted me to put it back together for him. It wasn't that easy though.

Pushing those uneasy thoughts to the back of my mind, I changed into a pair of old blue jeans and a white hooded sweatshirt. Taking a quick glance in the mirror, I deemed myself looking good enough to be seen out in public. Well, in a dark hotel bar anyways. I needed a drink. I needed something to take the edge off of what I was feeling tonight.

About an hour later I had three empty beer bottles and three empty shot glasses sitting in front of me. I was feeling better, dazed, but at least I wasn't thinking about the situation I was in anymore. Glancing at my watch, I see that they're going to yell last call in a few minutes. I order two more shots of whiskey and another beer. I was looking forward to passing out when I got back to my room. Sleep was always welcome; it's the only place where I don't have to decide between two things or try to figure out where I screwed up.

The last shot didn't even burn anymore, but it hit me hard. I probably shouldn't have done it, I probably should have quit while I was ahead. What's done is done. Funny how that phrase seems appropriate for my situation. I screwed up with Randy and I can't fix it. Well, according to him I could fix it, but only if I admitted I was wrong and just got back together with him. I didn't want to do that. Mike's theory was that I wasn't happy with Randy to begin with, which is why I turned to him and kept coming back. Same reasoning; what's done is done. The room started spinning a little bit; it felt like I was going to fall of my barstool when a pair of strong arms caught me and stood me up straight. I looked up into his blue eyes and my heart skipped a beat. In my drunken haze I was suddenly overcome with desire for this man. I wanted him to want me as bad as I wanted him right now. I needed to feel his touch as bad as he needed to feel mine. No words were exchanged, just a soft grip on my arm as he settled up with the bartender and handed me my purse.

Ignoring the curious stares from some of my co-workers who were finishing up their drinks before heading out, we walked out of the bar and into the lobby. He stopped in front of the elevator and pushed the 'up' button. Leaning down he kissed me softly on the mouth, his teeth gently nipping at my bottom lip. I sighed in content. I found my shaky arms wrap around his waist and pulled him closer to me, silently begging him to kiss me again. He obliged and the dizziness I was already feeling increased; as did my desire for him.

The elevator door opened and he slowly backed me, holding me against the wall as the doors closed behind us. He reached down and slid his finger into my jeans pocket, taking out my room key. Turning away from me for a brief second, he pushed my room floor and turned his attention back to me. Holding my chin in his big hand, he lifted it slowly as our lips met again; the sparks continued to fly between us. The loud ding of the elevator let us know that we had arrived on my floor. Taking my hand in his, he pulled me out of the elevator car and down the hall to my room door. Looking around the hallway for a split second, he then unlocked the door and pulled me inside with him. As the door shut behind me, I leaned against the door and tried to keep my eyes open wide enough to take a good look at him. All I could see though was a man whose blue eyes radiated desire at me. Taking a tentative step towards me, he took my hand in his and led me over to my bed. I stood against the edge of the bed as he lifted my sweatshirt over my head and he pulled my jeans down over my hips and onto the floor. I shivered as the cool air of the room hit my heated flesh.

I reached out and unbuttoned his shirt, lightly running my fingers down his chest and down to his stomach before resting my fingertips on the waistband of his jeans. With a wicked smirk, he switched places with me and sat down on the edge of the bed; his strong arms wrapping around my waist as he pulled me on to his lap. His hot lips found the sensitive spot on my neck as I let out a sigh of content. My fingers ran over his head, pulling him closer to me.

"I want you…" he whispered in my ear. Mumbling that I wanted him too was the last thing I remember about that night.

A/N: Oh! Who do you think she took home with her tonight? Read and review! Still looking for a beta reader too!


	16. Consequences of Last Night

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews. Much appreciated. Just a warning of some bad language and hints of violence in this chapter. You've been warned. Thanks for reading.**

**Chapter 16**

**Jessalinn's POV**

I woke up the next morning to the sound of my alarm clock buzzing loudly. I blindly shot out a hand from under the covers to try and hit the snooze button. My eyes popped open when I felt a pair of strong arms wrap around my waist and I heard a contented sigh in my ear. What the hell did I do last night? My mind raced trying to figure out who I brought back to my room last night. Did I run into Randy? Did I run into Mike? Oh, hell. What if I took a random stranger back to my room? I can just imagine the trouble I'd be in then. I closed my eyes and tried to remember. I hope it was Randy. I hope it was Randy. Please be Randy. Or Mike. Yeah, even Mike. Please don't let it be someone I'm going to regret.

I lifted the blanket off of me and tried to take a peek at the arms that were wrapped around my waist. I was praying for arms covered in tattoos. I looked down and silently groaned—no tattoos. So it must be Mike. The arms tightened their hold on me. Wait a minute; Mike's arms aren't this muscular. Who the hell was it? I knew the only way I was going to find out was to turn around and look. Closing my eyes one more time and counting to five, I took in a deep breath and willed myself to turn over; it was kind of hard with these arms wrapped around me so tight.

Letting out the deep breath that I was holding in, I seriously wanted to cry when I turned over and saw who was sleeping beside me. I wanted to cry and I wanted to scream and I wanted to hit him hard. It was John. Damn it all to hell, I got drunk last night and brought John Cena back to my hotel room. Sleeping with Randy's best friend was just going to add fuel to Randy's anger. What did I do? How could I have been so stupid? If my life wasn't fucked up already, it was officially fucked at this moment.

He stirred in his sleep for a few seconds while I watched him. My head was pounding and I needed to go the bathroom; but I knew I was going to be sick if I made any sudden movements. He must have sensed that I was staring at him, his blue eyes fluttered open and a sly smirk appeared on his face. "Mmmmm….Morning, baby…" he mumbled as he pulled me closer to him, his lips brushing against my bare shoulder. I was going to throw up.

I tried to pull away from him; but his big arms had settled around my waist again, his large hands resting on the small of my back, tracing small circles with his fingers. The light touch of his fingers on such sensitive skin caused me to shiver involuntarily. A smile appeared on his face as he leaned closer to me and kissed me softly on the lips. I was frozen; I knew I should push him away right now and demand that he leave my room, but I couldn't. What if someone saw him leaving my room so early in the morning? I could only imagine what they would think of me. I already knew what Randy and Mike would think of me—that they just had another man to fight with. Damn it all to hell. John's lips traveled from my mouth to my neck, he brought a hand up and tilted my head slightly so he could get a better view of my neck. I shivered involuntarily again as I felt his soft moist lips leave small soft kisses on the sensitive flesh. My neck was my weak spot and I always found it hard to resist a man who paid extra attention to that part of my body.

I tried to focus and tried to pull away from him, but he was much stronger. He must have sensed that I was trying to get away from him, he held me tighter, slowly shifting himself so his large body was on top of mine. I could feel my stomach turn as his weight landed on me. His mouth traveled from my neck up to my ear. Nibbling on the ear lobe he started whispering in my ear. "Mmmm…Baby. Now I know why those two idiots are fighting over you…..You're hot…Absolutely amazing in bed too…." I placed a hand on his chest and tried to push him off of me. He chuckled. "Feeling feisty this morning, baby? That's how I like it," he whispered in my ear as his mouth suddenly moved to my neck and his teeth sunk into the skin. I let out a yelp of pain and he stopped.

"I need you to get off me," I said softly, finally finding my voice.

"I don't think so; I like it here," he said as his hands started wandering down to my hips and gripping them tightly.

"Please, John. Get off."

"I like it when you say please, baby."

I was going to be sick if he didn't get off of me. "John, get off. I'm going to be sick." He sighed and rolled off of me. I jumped out of the bed and ran into the bathroom. I shut and locked the door behind me, barely making it to the toilet before I was sick. As I lay with my head against the cool wall, tears started falling down my cheeks. I messed up again. I messed up really bad. I needed to get out of here. It was time. I couldn't do this anymore. I needed out.

Struggling to get off the floor, I finally made it without being sick and turned the shower on. Letting the water get hot; I needed it hot. I needed it to wash away all of the horrible things I did last night with my ex-boyfriend's best friend. I didn't even want to think about how livid Randy was going to be when he found out about this. There had to be a way to keep it from him. I sure as hell wasn't going to say anything about to him; I would just to convince John to keep his big mouth shut.

I stalled as long as I could in the shower; letting the hot water rush over me and soothing my aching head. Grabbing a towel from the rack, I turned the water off and stepped out of the shower, wrapping the towel around me. I walked over to the mirror and wiped the steam away with my hands. As I looked in the mirror, I realized something. I realized at that moment, I didn't recognize the person staring back at me. Tears started to well up in my eyes; I closed them and took a deep breath, counting to ten and willing them not to fall anymore. I had to get out of here. I had to regain control of my life. But how was I going to do that? Do I run home to Texas and cry on dad's shoulder and beg him to make my job easier? Do I run home to Texas and show up at Abby's doorstep and bawl my eyes out, begging her to make these hard decisions for me? Or do I act like the grown 28 year old woman that I was and make another decision that was going to drastically change my life? Nodding at my reflection in the mirror, I knew what I had to do.

Luckily I had been staying in this room for a couple days so I had left a set of clothes in the bathroom. I didn't have to leave this room in a towel to look for something to wear. A small victory for me; and lately, I'll take victories whichever way I can get them.

I finished combing out my wet hair and braced myself for a second; psyching myself up, hoping and praying that John had left or that I had imagined the whole thing and I did in fact, not sleep with him last night. The second I unlocked the door and stepped out, I saw John sitting on my bed watching television; I knew it wasn't a dream. I really had done it last night. I fucked myself over again. He wasn't paying attention to me. Something didn't feel right, and it bothered me in the worst way.

Nervously walking further into the room, I looked over at the chair in the corner and I swear I was going to have a heart attack. Randy was sitting there with a smirk on his face. I fought the urge to run out of the room and catch the first flight back to Texas. I was just going to have to deal with this. John must have let him in while I was in the shower. I looked over at John and he smiled a sick smile at me. He was in on this? He smiled like he knew what was going to happen to me, and he looked pleased that he had a front row seat to watch.

"Randy…." I said softly as I leaned against the wall. There was no way in hell I was going to sit in the chair next to him or next to John on the bed. The wall seemed like a safe zone.

Randy sighed, looked down at the floor for a second and then looked back up at me. "Jessalinn…not only are you a first class bitch, it looks like you're also a tramp." I could feel my face turning red, I looked at John. Surely John would have to explain himself to Randy, right? I mean, he just slept with his best friend's ex-girlfriend; this couldn't be all **my **fault, could it? John was sober, he knew what he was doing.

"John, buddy?" Randy said softly.

"Yeah?"

"How long did it take you to get Linn to take her clothes off and lay down for you last night?"

"Hmmmmm I don't know; five minutes? She practically jumped me in the bar," John said with his attention still focused on the television.

Randy shook his head. "Look what you've become since you've left me, Linn. A bitch. A tramp. A drunk." He stood up from his chair and walked slowly over to me. I was so scared, it felt like I was frozen, I couldn't force myself to move, I was that terrified of what was coming to me. He put one hand on the wall above my head, holding me in place; the other hand softly stroked his cheek. "I loved you, Linny. I really, really loved you. But, now. I'm not sure if I can love you anymore. You slept with my best friend. I could forgive you when you slept with Mizanin, but my best friend? You have to pay for that. So, I guess if I can't love you anymore, the only thing left to do now, is to hate you." I was trying to process what he was saying, when I felt the sting of his hand hitting my cheek. It happened again right after the first one. I closed my eyes and waited for it to be over…..


	17. Done

**Chapter 17**

**Randy's POV**

I was filled with rage. I wanted to keep slapping her until she cried out for mercy. How could she do this to me? She slept with my best friend! She crossed the line. Now, it might seem like I'm not upset with John; trust me, I am. But I'll deal with him later. Right now I had to deal with a disobedient woman. I loved her. I loved her more than anything; she was my everything, and she was throwing everything we had built together away.

Her cheek was red from where I had just slapped her. Twice. I try my damnedest not to be violent with her; but you can only push a desperate man so far. This was strike two for her. Strike one was when I found out about Mizanin. Strike two was sleeping with my best friend. Any other man would have kicked her pathetic ass to the curb, but I couldn't. I needed her.

I pulled her hands away from her face and held them both down in one of my own hands by her hip. I gently stroked the cheek that I had struck. Her eyes were closed and she was breathing hard; she was absolutely terrified of me right now. I glanced over my shoulder at John; he nodded and started for the door. I would catch up with him later; right now I had to take care of this.

I leaned down close to her ear and started whispering, "Open your eyes, baby. I'm not going to hit you again." She slowly opened her pretty eyes; I smirked at the sight of the terror in her eyes. She was scared of me. "I'm not gonna hurt you again. I promise," I whispered as I started nibbling on her ear lobe. She tried bringing her hands up to push me away, but I still had both of them pinned within mine by her hip. "Don't fight me, baby. You're the only one is gonna get hurt if you fight me. Just give in to me," I whispered as my lips moved from her ear down to her neck and settled on her collarbone. The hand that wasn't holding her two hands moved up to hair and I tangled my fingers in her auburn locks. I pulled gently, getting a squeak of protest out of her. "Shhhh…..you're fine, baby." I started pulling her towards the bed; her knees hit the mattress and I pushed on her so she fell backwards. As I watched her lay down on the bed, I couldn't help but think of how vulnerable she looked right now.

I crawled on top of her; she immediately tried to squirm away from me. "Stop it, Randy," she said with shaky determination in her voice. I smirked at the thought of her trying to fight me off. I grabbed her wrist and held it above her head while her body struggled against mine.

"I loved you, baby. Really loved you. Why do you insist on trying to hurt me all the time? I don't want to hate you," I asked while I held her in place. I wanted an answer. I wasn't going to hurt her anymore; I just needed to know why it felt like she hated me so much. "Like I said before, I would have forgiven you for the whole Mizanin thing and was willing to put that all behind us and move forward. But then…..shit…..then you slept with my best friend."

"I didn't know what I was doing, Randy," she tried making an excuse for herself. "I had too much to drink last night and it just happened. I know that you're mad because he's your best friend; but we **aren't **together anymore. There is no more 'me and you'. It's over and I don't like or understand this new obsessive behavior from you," she said with a little bit more determination in her voice. I could tell that I was close to pushing her over the edge; she was going to explode on me pretty soon, she had finally had enough.

"There is **always **going to be a 'me and you', Linn. That's what you don't understand," I growled in her ear as I let go of her tiny wrist and rolled off of her, leaving her lying on the bed with a confused look on her face. I knew what I had to do now. It was going to look desperate on my part, but I couldn't let her leave me forever like this.

"No, there isn't, Randy. It's over. Leave," she said as she looked me right in the eyes. This newfound confidence she had was irritating to me. I shook my head at her and started walking towards the door. I would deal with her later; she would get hers eventually, I just had to be patient.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Later that day<strong>_

**Jessalinn's POV**

I was sitting in a chair outside of Vince's office, nervously shaking my foot back and forth. After what happened earlier today with John and Randy, I had made up my mind. I was done. Vince's office door opened and his assistant came out, motioning for me to come inside; the boss was ready to hear what I had to say. Right now I was supposed to be on a flight to California; I had already missed that flight, and if this didn't work out in my favor, I was going to have to take a red eye out there tonight or start driving. I hoped like hell I was going to be strong enough to do this.

I timidly stepped into Vince's office, he looked up from the paperwork on his desk and gave me a small smile, "Miss Austin, have a seat," he said as he pointed to a chair in front of his desk. I sat down and looked at him. "What can I do for you?" he asked as he focused his attention on me.

"I've thought a lot about this lately, and even though it pains me to say this…" I was stalling, not quite sure how to form the words that would set me free. "I'm putting in my notice, effectively immediately," I finally blurted out.

I could tell that he was not expecting me to drop a bomb like this on him today. "I'm sorry, Miss Austin. Please repeat that, because it sounded like you just told me that you were quitting a week before one our biggest Pay-Per-View events."

I swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat and nodded. "You heard me correctly; I'm putting in my notice immediately. I'd like to leave for Texas tonight."

Vince closed his eyes and sighed. "Can I ask if this sudden decision to leave the company has anything to do with the….love triangle you seem to be in right now?"

"It doesn't have anything to do with that; I just think it's time for a change in careers. I know it's unprofessional to give a notice like this and expect to just cut ties completely, but I'm done. I really can't do this anymore. I'm not cut out for life on the road; I need an office that doesn't change every night. I need to do more with my life than settling quarrels between wrestlers and setting up kayfab matches. I'm really sorry, Mr. McMahon. I really am. I appreciate the opportunity you gave me right of out of college, but I'm afraid it's time for me to move." I said my little speech quickly. I rehearsed it all the way over here and while sitting outside the office waiting for my appointment. I honestly had no idea what I was going to do with my life once I went back to Houston. All I knew is that I was going to be free. Free from Randy's obsessive behavior. Free from John's dirty tricks. Free from whatever Mike thought he was going to get me to do with him. I had had enough finally. I wanted to go home.

"Well, Miss Austin. I guess I really can't force you to stay on as our general manager. If this is what you really want, I'll have no choice but to sign your release papers. Are you sure there isn't another position within the company that I can offer you?"

I shook my head. "No. This is what I want. Thank you for being so understanding. We'll be in touch?" I asked as I stood up and held out my hand for a handshake. I couldn't believe that I was doing this, I was almost free.


	18. Not Free

**A/N: You didn't think I was going to just let her quit, did you? Here's the next one; no Randy, Mike or John; but a lot of Vince, Linn and dear old dad. Read and review, I promise the drama is going to pick back up soon! Story line ideas are welcome, send me a PM or leave it in the review.**

**Chapter 18**

**Steve's POV**

I had just walked into the house and the phone was ringing. I picked up, not looking at the caller ID because I'm sure it was just one of my girls calling today. Today was Sunday; and almost all of them called to check in on me. Well, most of them did, Jessalinn was acting strange again and I barely heard from her anymore.

I was surprised when it wasn't any of my kids but instead my former boss, Vince McMahon.

"Steve. Sorry to bother you on a Sunday, but I need a favor."

"What?"

"Please don't start."

"No, Vince, I'm asking you what kind of favor you want?"

"Oh. Well, Jessalinn just left my office."

"Yeah."

"And she just asked that her contract be terminated; effective immediately."

"She did what?"

"She quit."

"What?"

"Steve," McMahon's voice had a warning tone to it. I knew I was pissing him off, but I was also a little concerned because for some reason he just called to tell me that my youngest had quit her job.

"Did she say why?"

"Not really. She said that she was tired of everything and that this wasn't the career for her anymore."

"What do you want me to do about it?"

"Well, I was hoping you could talk to her and see if you could change her mind."

I laughed. "Jessalinn is almost 28 years old, Vince. She's not a child anymore, I can't tell her what to do. You're kids are grown, you should know this. They're adults; they don't listen to us anymore."

"Yes, I know. But I have a feeling that she only quit because of what's been happening between her and Orton and Mizanin, and my sources tell me now that Cena is somehow involved in this."

"Involved in what?" I was confused. I knew she had broken up with douche bag to go out with that other mealy mouthed little son of a bitch, but where did that jack ass Cena come in to play?

Vince sighed. "Apparently, Orton and Mizanin have been fighting over her and now Cena has thrown his hat into the ring over the fight over her."

I growled, "She's not a prize for them assholes to be fighting over; she's a woman. She also happens to be my baby girl. I see what you're saying now, Vince."

"I thought you might, Steve. I don't want to release her from her contract; she's done an amazing job for us over the years and the ratings have never been better. The way she keeps these idiots in line is wonderful."

"I don't think she really wanted to quit either. She loved that job. Did she say if she was headed home?"

"Yes, she said she was flying back to Houston tonight. Will you talk to her?"

"Yeah, I think I'm gonna make a drive down to Houston and find out just what the hell is goin' on inside that redhead of hers."

"I appreciate it, Steve. Can I give you call tomorrow?"

"What? Are you askin' me out on a date, McMahon?" I couldn't help but get a shot in at him. This phone call had been too civilized; completely unlike us.

"Steve."

"Yeah, yeah. How about I give ya a call after I talk some sense into her?"

"I appreciate it."

I hung up the phone, wondering what kind of mess my baby girl had gotten herself into now.

**Jessalinn's POV**

I had just unlocked my front door and was walking into the living room when I heard the house phone ringing. Really? I'm not even home for thirty seconds and this is going to start already? Ignoring the phone, I locked the front door behind me and kicked off my shoes, and started dragging my suitcase through the kitchen to my laundry room. I had been on the road for about a month now and had some serious laundry pile up.

I busied myself sorting clothes and starting the washer when I heard the house phone ring again. Damn it, who was calling? I don't think anyone knows that I'm home except Vince. I didn't even bother telling Kait that I was leaving; she would find out at the staff meeting on Monday. She was going to be pissed that I didn't tell her what was going on; a year ago we had been so close and now we're like strangers. I guess that's another relationship that I'm going to have to fix.

I reluctantly left my laundry and went into the living room to answer the phone. "Hello," I said with annoyance. All I wanted to do was my laundry, I didn't want to talk to anyone.

"Linn, it's your daddy." Oh, shit. Why was dad calling?

"Hey, daddy."

"Hey, baby girl. I just got off the phone with Vince."

"Oh, shit," I mumbled. He must have heard me.

"Yeah, oh, shit. When were you going to tell me that you quit?"

"It just happened, dad, I was going to tell you….."

"What are you thinking, girl? I thought you loved that job?"

"I did. But….it's too much now. I want to try something different."

"Something different? Like what?"

"I have no idea."

"Don't ya think you should have thought about that before you up and quit on Vince?" he said raising his voice a little. I knew he was going to be upset with me for this. He had twisted Vince's arm a little bit when I got hired for him to hire someone right out of college for such a big position within the company.

"Dad…you don't understand," I said softly as I sat down on the couch.

"What don't I understand, darlin'?" he said with less gruff in his voice.

"It's too much. I can't do it anymore."

"Of course it's a lot, you knew that when you signed up. That can't be the only reason, though. What else is going on with you, girl?"

I sighed. How much do I tell him? "Well, it's just that, Randy has been acting…..differently lately and I don't know how much more of it I can take," I was choosing my words carefully here; because if my father knew what Randy had really been doing to me lately, dad was going to freak out and kill him.

"Different how? He been hitting you?" he asked with a growl.

Silence. I didn't know what to tell him "Jessalinn, answer me. Has that douche bag laid his hands on you?"

I nodded, even though I knew he couldn't see me. "No, dad, he hasn't. He's just been acting different and I don't know if I know him anymore."

"I see." He knew I was lying to him. I always tried hard not to lie to him, but in situations like this, it was safer for everyone involved if I just bent the truth a little bit.

"Vince called me. He wants you to reconsider your contract. He wants to keep you on the payroll."

"I don't know if I want to do that anymore, dad."

"Well, then just what the hell are you going to do, Linn? You've a mortgage you need to pay for, and student loans. You didn't think this through at all; something happened, you got scared and decided that running away was the only solution. Why won't you tell me what's really going on?" he said, raising his voice.

"I don't know, dad. But I'll figure it out."

"I don't think you should quit. Maybe you need to take another vacation."

"Dad….."

"I know right now it doesn't seem like things are going your way, but you'll figure it out and things will turn around. Being GM is a good opportunity for you, I don't want to see you throw it away because of those idiots."

"What idiots?"

"I said I talked to Vince this morning; so I know about Orton, Mizanin and Cena."

Oh, shit. I swallowed a scream of frustration at Vince's big mouth. "That's not the reason I quit," I said lamely.

"Don't lie to your father, Jessalinn."

Silence. "Abby is gonna come over and talk this over with you. The good thing about having a daughter that's a therapist, is that I don't gotta pay for therapy for you to get your crazy ass straightened out," he said with a slightly teasing tone in his voice. I wasn't shocked at all that he was sending Abby to talk to me. She was his favorite and he thought that she could fix the world.

"Fine. But I don't think she can fix this one for me, dad."

"She can try, can't she?"

I nodded, "Yeah, maybe she can."

"I gotta call Vince tomorrow. What do you want me to tell him?"

"Nothing, dad. I'm an adult and this is my problem," I said defensively.

"I know that. But he seems to think that just because you're grown I can still tell you what to do. Hell, I couldn't tell you girls what to do when you were teenagers, what makes him think that I can tell ya'll what to do now?" he said with a laugh in his voice. I smiled thinking about the mischief my sisters and I had gotten into while we were growing up.

"I love you, dad." I was glad he had called. I really was. I don't spend nearly enough time with my family anymore; it was nice to know that they still cared.

"Love you too, baby girl."

We hung up after he told me to think about what I was going to do and that Abby was going to be stopping over tomorrow some time. I set the phone down and wondered what was going to happen next. Sometimes I wish I had a crystal ball that could tell me my future; then at least I could be prepared and run away in advance if necessary.

While I was on the phone with my dad my cell had been blowing up; which was not unusual. I scrolled through the text messages until I came across one from Mike.

"Hey, where you hiding? Heard a rumor you quit. Call me."

I sent him one back, "At home." That's all I said, I didn't know what else to tell him right now. I didn't know how I felt about him anymore; at first I was glad that he had made me see the light about how bored I was with Randy, but now I wasn't so sure anymore. I had this horrible nagging feeling in the back of my mind that he had hooked up with me for the wrong reasons. And I wasn't sure if I liked the feeling of being used like that. Guess I'll add that nagging feeling to the list of feelings to explore with my sister the therapist tomorrow. Sigh. Therapy, I thought as I rolled my eyes. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.


	19. Cross Roads

**A/N: Here's the next one. Lots of POV's from a few different people. I'm going somewhere with this, trust me : )**

**Chapter 19**

**Randy's POV**

It couldn't be true; it just couldn't. "You can't serious, Kait," I said to her with a desperate tone in my voice. I had run into Linn's sister on my way to catch my flight and she had just hit me with some hard news.

"It's true, Randy. I heard it from Stephanie and then I called Linn," she said softly. She had finally started talking to me like she used to about a week ago; I think she felt bad for me.

"What did she say?"

"Well, I couldn't get a hold of her, so I called dad and he said that Vince had called him and let him know."

"She really did it, then?" Damn it all to hell. I had pushed her too far and she finally quit.

"I guess so….." she trailed off; I could tell she blamed me for this.

"Do you think it's my fault?" I asked sheepishly, I didn't want to admit it was my fault, but I knew I had pushed her too far and that she was scared. Apparently the scare tactic wasn't going to work with her; I had to try something else.

"Yeah, I think it's **your** fault and I think its **Mike's** fault and from what I heard from Cody the other day, I think its **John's** fault as well. What the hell was he thinking?" she asked with her blue eyes flashing with anger. Kait was extremely protective of her little sister and best friend.

"I don't know what he was thinking; he called me the morning after it happened."

"Well did he have a good excuse? I mean, from what I heard she was trashed and doesn't remember a thing."

"I almost kicked his ass for what he told me." John's romantic interlude with my ex had caused a giant rift between me and my best friend. He had called me the morning after it happened and said that he was really sorry, but that I should come to room 320. I didn't know whose room that was; turned out that it was Linn's. I wanted to beat the shit out of John right then and there for taking advantage of her, but then he started telling me shit like she obviously didn't care too much for me if she had taken him home last night. That's when I started thinking that she really didn't want to get back together with me; she really was done with me, she was trying to move on with her life. My natural instincts kicked in and I tried to scare her into getting back together with me. It looks like that backfired on me.

"Well, why didn't you? From what I heard, she had way too much to drink that night and he took advantage of that?"

"I don't know. I don't know what to do about her anymore. I can't have a conversation with her without her looking like she's terrified of me. She hates me, that's all there is to it," I said with defeat. She just didn't want me anymore; maybe it was time to let her go.

"Do you want me to talk to her, Randy?" Kait asked. Well, that surprised me; usually Kait doesn't get involved in her sister's relationship with me. In the six years I had been with Linn, Kait always sided with her sister when she got pulled into the middle of our disagreements. Why should this time be any different?

I nodded. "I don't know if you can convince her to get back together with me; but if you could find out how she really feels I would appreciate it. I need to know if she just wants a break from me or if she really is done for good."

"Do you get the feeling like we're in junior high again," she asked with a smile. I smiled back; she was right, Linn and I should talk this out like adults, but it's not that easy when she's terrified of me because of how I've been acting lately.

"Yeah, I do. When are you going to talk to her?"

"I'm flying back to Texas after the show tomorrow night; I'll talk to her then. I can't promise anything, you know that right?" I knew what she meant; she couldn't convince Linn to get back together with me; it had to be her own decision and I was pretty sure the future wasn't looking good for us.

**Mike's POV**

I had just heard confirmation that Linn did in fact quit. What the hell? Why didn't she tell me? This was obviously all Orton's fault. He pushed her too far and she broke. I needed to be there to pick up the pieces for two reasons. One, I felt bad for her, she's been through a lot lately and she needed someone strong there for her to lean on. Two, it would absolutely kill Orton to know that** I **was the one comforting his ex.

I've been trying to call her all day but she isn't answering her cell. I looked around in my wallet until I found her house phone number she had given to me a while ago.

"Hello?" Holy shit, she actually answered.

"Hey, babe. What are you doing?" I asked sweetly.

"Nothing. Just visiting with my sister."

"Oh, is this not a good time to talk then?"

"Um…not really. She's trying to help me sort some things out…Do you mind if I call you back later?" I knew she wasn't going to call me back later; she had been avoiding me for some reason. I was starting to get worried that she had somehow found out that one of the main reasons I hooked up with her was to get under Orton's skin; and the other reason being that I just liked having sex with her. I suppose eventually I could develop serious romantic feelings about her, but I wasn't patient enough to wait that long.

"Oh….Well, I got some interviews and stuff scheduled, do you have a couple minutes to talk now? I heard some shit at work today and I was just a little bit worried about you."

She sighed. "I guess so. What's on your mind?"

"Well, I was just kind of wondering where we stand."

"What do you mean?"

"I guess, I'm trying to figure out if there is an "us" right now or not. I really hope you weren't just playing me to get Orton's attention and now that you got it, you're gonna ditch me." I was laying it on thick here, I know. But I've found out that this is the best way to get to her.

"No. There isn't an "us", Mike. There never really was I guess."

"What? You can't be serious, Linn."

"I am. I've done a lot of thinking lately, and I should have turned you down the first time we hooked up. I messed up a six year relationship with someone that I planned on marrying just because I was feeling neglected."

"So you used me?" What? I thought I had her where I wanted her, now she's suddenly growing a spine and standing up to me?

"I'm sorry, Mike."

"Yeah, you are sorry, Linn," I snarled at her before I hung up on her. Fucking bitch. Who does she think she is? I'll get her back for this; if there's one thing that I've learned about her over the past year or so, it's that she finds it hard to resist me when I turned on the charm. I would let her cool off for a couple of days and then try again. It looked like it was time for me to learn some patience.

**Jessalinn's POV**

I sighed, looking at the phone for a second before I hit the end button and hung it back up.

"Good for you, Linn," Abby said softly as she patted my hand. My sister had been at my house for almost six hours now, and we've talked about **everything**.

"Abby….what do you think I should do? I mean, the only reason I told Vince that I wanted to quit was because I'm tired of being bullied by Randy and Mike."

"And now it looks like John is involved in some way?" she asked quietly. I had left out the part about John, but she had heard bits and pieces from my dad about what had transpired between me and John. It was embarrassing; I shouldn't have been drinking that heavily and it never would have happened. But it did; I had heard a rumor a while ago that John had liked me, but that he was never going to act on it as long as I was with Randy.

"Yeah, I have no idea what to do about that. I was just going to chalk it up to being a drunken one night stand mistake and leave it at that."

"Trying to forget about it isn't going to make it go away, darling."

I sighed. "I know…."

We sat in silence for a few minutes before she started talking again. "Have you thought about what your immediate plans are for now?"

I shook my head, "No. I just knew that I was done and I needed to get out of there. I have money saved up to live on for a while, but I should probably do something productive with my fancy degree, huh?"

She smiled, "That would be the mature thing to do. Now, from what I understand from dad, Vince hasn't officially let you out of your contract yet."

"True. There was only like three months left of it and then it was up for renewal."

"Would you consider going back and finishing it out?"

"No. Because then I'm right back to where I started and I can't do that anymore, Abby. I really can't." I was trying hard to not let the tears well up in my eyes; crying never solved anything.

"What if you came clean to Vince and told him what was going on and how the broken relationships with Mike and Randy are affecting your work? Do you think he would consider removing you from the situation? Maybe he could switch you to the other brand while you finish out your contract? "

"I don't want to go on the other brand. I've been on RAW for six years; it would be hard to just up and switch like that."

"The point I'm trying to make, Jessalinn, is that you are an adult, you signed a contract, you have responsibilities and you can't just run away from them. You made a hard decision when you started seeing Mike and now you have to deal with the consequences. Unfortunately, the consequence of your actions with Mike is that you really hurt Randy's pride and you broke his heart. I know you said that you apologized to him, but you also pushed him too far."

"I know; but I don't know how to fix it."

"In my opinion, the way to fix this is to break it off with all of them and start over. Take some time to focus on yourself, Linn. Do what's best for you right now. And I think you should start by honoring your contract with Vince and then take it from there."

"What do I do about that match I'm supposed to referee?" That's what I was the most worried about. I didn't want to do that at all.

She thought about it for a few seconds. "I think I know a certain someone who would be more than happy to take your place," she said with a smile. Leave it to my sister to solve all of my problems just by talking.


	20. She's Back

**A/N: I'm back! Had to take some time off to re-energize myself about this story. I think I got it figured out, but plot ideas and story lines are always welcome, drop me a PM or leave it in the review. Enjoy : )**

**Chapter 20**

Summer Slam was this weekend. I was getting nervous which made it hard to focus on my job. I ended up calling Vince after Abby left and explained what was all going on; surprisingly enough, he knew a lot of the shit that happened and was understanding. He agreed that it was a good idea that I do not referee the 'I Quit' match between Randy and Mike. I breathed a sigh of relief when I managed to wiggle out of that sticky situation. The problem now was who was going to be the special guest referee. After a quick meeting with the creative team, we narrowed the choices down to two people: John Cena or my dad. Yeah, that's right; Stone Cold would make a surprise appearance at Summer Slam for me. I loved my dad. I got the feeling, though, that he was more excited to watch Randy and Mike beat the hell out of each other, and maybe get in a couple cheap shots in himself, than he was to be coming back to the WWE for the night. It didn't matter to me, anymore; I had removed myself from the situation. There was still the matter of what I was going to do once my contract was up, but I would worry about that when the time came.

I had just parked my rental car at the hotel I would be staying at until Monday morning. I was feeling pretty good about everything for once. I spoke too soon, because as soon as I walked into the lobby, someone grabbed my arm and pulled me close to him. It was Mike. I had been purposely avoiding him since that last phone call. He had called and emailed me several times, but I just ignored it.

"Hey, you're back!" he said with a big smile, his bright blue eyes lighting up as he looked me up and down.

I removed his hand from my arm, "Yeah, um, I talked with Vince and I'm going to finish out my contract and then we'll do a revaluation then to see how things are going," I said quietly, looking around trying to find my escape from him. It's not that I didn't like Mike anymore, I've just had a lot of time to think about things and I think I went about hooking up with him in the wrong way; I should have broken up with Randy first and then started going out with Mike, not the other way around. Lesson learned.

He pulled me back close to him again, "Hey, I'm sorry for what I said to you on the phone last time. I've been trying to call you to apologize, but I can't get through to you, baby," he whispered in my ear. I shivered involuntarily as his breathe tingled in my ear. He smiled, feeling my body react to having him close to me. "Can you forgive me? I didn't mean it, I really like you…" he murmured as he started placing soft kisses on the sensitive skin by my ear. "Please?" he asked. I felt myself giving in; what was the harm in just one more fling with Mike?

"I guess so…." I mumbled. Here we go again; I'm going to start getting back into the same situation I was in before. How do I manage to get myself into messes like this? Oh, I know. I'm horribly indecisive and a sucker for a man who nibbles on my neck and says all the right words in my ear. This was something that I talked out with Abby. Apparently, I have some sort of co-dependent issues that I need to work out. Huh; who knew?

"Good. I don't like it when I feel like you're mad at me baby," he whispered in my ear again. I walked over to the front desk to check in and was about to walk down the hall to my room with Mike when he suddenly stopped. I looked up to see why he had stopped; I held in a scream of frustration. It was Randy. Of course. Of course it would be Randy; he seemed to show up every time I was walking alone with Mike. Abby had said that she would have loved to sit down with Randy and figure out what was going on inside his head lately. Because when we first broke up he was heartbroken and remorseful, then it seemed like something snapped and he turned obsessive and possessive. Yeah, she would have a field day with him and his issues.

"Linn," he said gruffly as he attempted to smile at me, but couldn't make himself do that before he turned to glare at Mike. "Mizanin."

"Orton," Mike replied.

I just stood there and stared at both of them like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming car. Was I supposed to do something here? Was I supposed to start screaming about them to stop fighting before they even started? Or should I just let it play out? Neither of them knew that I wasn't going to be the referee for their match this weekend. It was a surprise that Vince was going to spring on them at the last second; not how we usually do things for big events like this, but it would definitely add to the drama. And if there was one thing that Vince loved, it was drama.

"I'm going to my room," I finally said softly as I grabbed my suitcase from Mike and walked away from both of them so they could finish their staring match in peace. I heard them arguing back and forth as I walked down the hall. 'Let them fight' I thought to myself. Maybe when they finally get to beat the hell out of each other on Sunday, this will finally be over and I can move on with my life.

I spent the rest of the afternoon in my room catching up with Kait. Apparently, things were starting to get serious with her and Cody. It had been so long since I've had a chance to actually sit down and talk to Kait face to face, that I was almost shocked to hear that things were going pretty well between the two. Usually they argued and bickered so much that it was hard to tell if they were actually together or not.

"So. Miss Linn. Tell me the latest and greatest news of the Austin-Orton-Mizanin love triangle," she said. We had been avoiding talking about my love life for most of the day. I was tired of talking about it; I had talked for five hours the other day with Abby over it. She made me realize a lot of things, not only about my relationships with Mike and Randy, but also a lot about myself.

"Um. Well, there really isn't anything going on right now, I guess."

"Really? I find that hard to believe, my dear sister. Because the rumors around the locker room are that now it's a love square. Is that even possible? A love square?" she asked/

"I have no idea what you are talking about. I removed myself from the situation so it's really Mike and Randy fighting each other. Who was the third guy?" I was curious; I had only been away from the locker room for a couple of days and a new rumor had started.

"Cena," she said simply.

"What?"

"Cena."

"What?" 

Kait sighed, "Really, Linn?"

"Sorry, I'm just not sure when I started messing around with Cena."

"Well, apparently, that night you picked him up at the bar got him to thinking about how he actually liked you and that he might have a real chance with you now that you and Randy had broken up."

"Oh. My. God." This was not good; this was so incredibly not good.

"Yeah, him and Randy got into a huge argument over what happened that night. Because first, Randy thought that John had just done it to prove a point to him about how you had moved on with your life and that Randy should start to do the same. But then, a rumor started that John had actually liked you for a really long time, but could never tell you because you and Randy had been together for so long."

"This is horrible. This is why I am not renewing my contract, Kait. I can't handle this."

"I know, baby. But it's real and it **is** happening; and you have to deal with it."

"I don't want to deal with it, Kait."

"You almost have to, Linn. I mean, what else are you going to do?"

"Not renew my contract."

"Are you serious? You can't do that!"

"I'm dead serious. I've had enough; I'm not even refereeing the match on Sunday. Someone else is, and I think it's going to be dad."

Kait looked shocked; it had been a real long time since we had actually talked like this. "I don't believe it. Are you not renewing because of those three idiots?" 

"No. It's not just that. It's a lot of other reasons too. I'm tired. I'm tired of being on the road every week. I want something stable."

"Understandable, but is something stable going to be doing what you love?"

"I don't know. I honestly don't know."

We sat in silence for a few minutes before she realized that it was almost six o'clock. We made plans to get together tonight and go out for the first time in a long time. She said she would swing back to pick me up around eight.

I walked her to the door and watched her walk down the hallway back to her and Cody's room. I used to have what her and Cody had; but I threw it away. Why is it you never realize how good you have it until you throw it all away?


	21. What do you want

A/N: Thanks much for the reviews. I had horrible writer's block on this story for a while, wasn't sure where I wanted it to go. I think I got it figured out. Read, review and enjoy. Oh, and let me know if you like where the story is headed. J

**Chapter 21**

I spent the rest of the day sitting in a chair and watching television. The only problem was that I wasn't really paying attention to the TV; I was preoccupied with what Kait had told me earlier about John. I've known John as long as I've known Randy. Six years. John has been his best friend as long as I can remember. We used to go out on double dates with John and whatever blonde bimbo he had managed to talk into going out with him that night. The three of us used to be really good friends. I had absolutely no idea that John had had any kind of feelings towards me except those of friendship. It didn't help that I slept with him recently. I haven't talked to him since that morning Randy showed up in my hotel room. I knew I should probably do the mature thing and talk to John about it; I didn't even know if he had used a condom or not. Great. Wouldn't that be my luck? To end up pregnant and have no idea whose child it would be because I had been sleeping with three different guys. So, just to summarize, not only am I losing my mind, I'm also a slut. Can things get any worse?

Eight o'clock finally came around and Kait stopped by with Cody. I was still in the bathroom cursing at my hair when Kait stuck her head in the bathroom. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to get my hair to cooperate and failing miserably."

"You look fine. Let's go."

"Fine….." I took one last look in the mirror; I guess I looked ok. I had managed to get my auburn hair to lay flat and I had on a pair of old blue jeans and a black tank top. We were just going to the bar; no one to impress there.

I listened with amusement as Cody and Kait argued all the way down the hallway to the hotel bar. They just never stopped. I knew my sister only picked a fight with him sometimes just so she could make up

with him. She was an evil genius sometimes, I swear.

An hour or so passed by and I tried to keep myself amused as I sat in the booth with my sister and her boyfriend. It was no use, though. I was bored. I shouldn't be bored. It was Summer Slam weekend; not as exciting and packed as Wrestlemania weekend, but still, it's like the hottest party of the year, and here I was sitting in a booth listening to my sister bitch about how Cody keeps leaving his socks on the bathroom floor. Apparently that angers her to no end.

"I'm going to get another beer," I said to them, not that they noticed, they were too busy arguing yet again. I made my way through the crowded room and made it up to the bar. I only got stopped twice by a couple of people asking me either where Randy was or if I knew where Mike was. I had no idea where either of them was and I wanted to leave it that way.

I should have known that my luck in not seeing either Randy or Mike wouldn't last all night. I was waiting at the bar for my beer and was just about to hand the bartender my money when someone was beside me spoke up, "I got it," and threw money down. I glanced over and held in a groan. Randy was standing next to me.

I mumbled 'thanks' and started to walk away, but he caught my arm first. I looked at him with fearful eyes and wondered what sick game he thought he was going to play tonight. I was sick of his games; I was sick of him either acting like I had torn his world apart by cheating on him or acting like a psycho. I didn't like it when he acted like that. I don't honestly know if I want to get back together with him; but if it did, he would have to just be Randy again, not this new person that he had become.

"Can we go outside and talk," he leaned and said in my ear. I glanced over at the booth I had been sitting at with Kait and Cody. They were still arguing and didn't even realize that I had left. I turned to Randy and nodded. I knew I probably shouldn't go off alone with him, given the unpredictable way he had been acting as of late, but something told me to just trust him. What did I have to lose? My self-respect? Lost that a long time ago.

I followed Randy through the packed room and we ended up outside the front of the hotel bar. There were a few of our co-workers hanging around. They looked surprised to see us together; I didn't blame them. After everything that had happened over the last few months, I never would have expected that I would let myself be alone with him either.

I sat down on the curb and he sat down beside me. I didn't know what to say to him. I didn't know what he wanted. "What did you want to talk about?" I said softly as I took a long drink of my beer.

"Us," he said simply.

"Is there an 'us' anymore?"

"I'd like there to be."

"Randy…..I don't know if there can be an 'us' anymore. Not after everything that's happened lately."

He reached over and placed his hand on my knee. "I know I'm an asshole, and I'm sorry for scaring you. I don't want you to be scared of me."

"Then why did you do it?" I wasn't looking at him; I knew if I looked him in the eyes, I would give in to him. I always gave into him.

"I wanted you back. I wanted to hurt you the way you hurt me. I didn't want to."

"I didn't want to hurt you either, Randy. Deep down somewhere, you must know that."

"I guess I do. I didn't realize that you had been so unhappy with me, Linn. Why were you so unhappy with me?"

I didn't know what to say because I really didn't know why this whole thing had started. It had started with an argument between me and him over something stupid; I ended up going to the bar to get drunk by myself and Mike just happened to show up at the right time. He made me feel special; he made me feel pretty. I was having too much fun with him that night at the park to realize what I was starting. I should have just gone back to the hotel and went to sleep next to Randy.

"I still want you back," he said softly. "I don't want to live without you, Linn. I need you in my life. I still want to marry you….."

"I don't understand how you can still want me back after everything that's happened, Randy."

"I don't understand it either, Linn. All I know is that I still love you and I'm still crazy about you. I don't want to lose you. I want another chance. Let me make you happy again. Anything you want, if I can give it to you, I will. You just have to say the word." He leaned over and kissed me on the cheek before he stood up and walked away from me, leaving me alone with my thoughts on the curb.

I sat outside by myself for a while before someone sat down next to me. I glanced over and saw that John had plopped himself down beside me.

"Hey," he said quietly.

"Hey." This was awkward. I haven't talked to John since that morning I woke up next to him.

"So. We never talked about what happened that night…"

"No, we did not."

"Um….I guess I wanted to apologize for taking advantage of you that night."

I didn't know what to say; it was true that I had had way too much to drink that night and that he had crossed the line by coming back to my room with me.

"I shouldn't have done that, and I'm really sorry. I know you're really stressed out with everything going on lately, and I let my dick speak louder than my brain that night. I'm really sorry, Linn….."

"Did you use a condom?" I asked quietly. That was all I could think about. I wasn't on the pill, and I always made Mike where one; I couldn't remember if I used one the last time I was with Randy; it had happened so quickly…..

"No…..you're on the pill or something, right?" he asked worriedly.

I shook my head. "I'm not on anything. I was with Randy for so long, that we decided that if it happened, it just happened….." I could feel tears start to well up in my eyes and I didn't know why. There was no indication of anything right now; I was just stressed out about everything. In the last year, my life has gone from perfect to shit. This wasn't how things were supposed to turn out for me.

"Shit…" he mumbled.

I had had enough. I wanted to go back to my room and go to sleep. I stood up and walked away from John without a second look back at him. I debated whether or not to go and let Kait know that I was leaving; I decided against it and promised myself I would send her a text later or call her.

Back in my hotel room, I looked around the room and sighed. Another night ruined by the messy love life I had created for myself. I wandered around the room until I found what I was looking for—my photo album. I grabbed it and sat down on the edge of the bed. I started flipping through it until I found what I was looking for. I found myself smiling in spite of the fact that I was feeling down in the dumps tonight. It was a picture of me and Randy in Victoria at my dad's house. It must have been Christmas or close to it, because we were standing near the Christmas tree in the living room. I was smiling big at the camera and Randy had his arm wrapped around my waist tight, smiling at me. We looked so happy….could I ever be happy like that again with him, or did I fuck things up too bad? Turning the page, we were at my sister Abby's wedding. I was sitting on his lap and he was kissing my neck. I smiled remembered the daggers my dad was shooting at him for being so affectionate with me that night. Dad never liked him; but he had given his blessing to let him marry me. I wiped a tear off of my cheek that had started to slide down.

It was at this moment that I realized, despite everything that had happened over the past year, I missed him. I wanted him back. I wanted what we had back. I know he told me that he would take me back, that he would forgive me, but I wasn't sure if I wanted the whole deal back, or if I just wanted him tonight because I was feeling sorry for myself.

Taking a deep breath, I dialed his number. I almost hung up after the first ring; I wasn't sure if I really wanted to do this.

"Yeah…" he growled into the phone.

"Hey….it's me," I said lamely.

"Oh. Hey, you."

"Come see me tonight?" I practically whispered.

"What room?"

"305."

"Give me a few minutes," he said before he hung up.

I pushed the end button and stared at the phone for a second. Did I just really do that? Did I just really ask my ex-boyfriend, who had been such an asshole to me lately, to come and see me tonight? Abby didn't come right out and say it, but I'm pretty sure she was thinking that I have some sort of mental issue, because I keep putting myself into situations like this on purpose…

A few minutes later there was a knock on the door. I went over to open it, without a word spoke he came in and shut the door behind him. He looked nervous; the normal cocky smirk that he wore on his face was gone. He just looked nervous, like he wasn't sure if I was playing mind games with him or setting him up for something. I wasn't doing either; I just wanted to see him. I reached for his hand and led him over to the bed. He sat down and I crawled into his lap. He wrapped his strong arms around me and we just sat like that for the longest time. This is what I wanted; I wanted to feel him next to me; I would worry about what we would do next later, I just wanted him close to me.

_**What do you want me to say?**_

_**That I'm content? That I'm on the fence? That I wish you would've stayed?**_

_**Oh baby what do you want, what do you want, what do you want from me?**_

_**To come here and make love tonight cause you're feelin' lonely.**_

_**You keep takin' me back, takin' me back where I've already been.**_

_**When we wake up and say goodbye it's like I'm losing you again.**_

_**Can't you see? So what do you want, what do you want from me?**_

_**What do you want, what do you want from me?**_


	22. Still Love Me?

**Chapter 22**

We sat on the bed like that, me on his lap with his arms wrapped around for me for quite some time. Neither of us was saying anything; I don't think there really was anything for us to say right now anyways. I rested my head on his shoulder and he squeezed me tighter. I fought like hell to keep the tears from falling down my face; crying wasn't going to fix anything anymore. "Baby, do you want to go lay down," he whispered in my ear. I nodded and hopped off of his lap. I kicked off my shoes and he did the same. He crawled on top of the bed first. He held out his arms for me, I crawled on the bed and settled in his arms, resting my head on his chest. I felt secure; for the first time in a really long time, I felt secure and content with Randy. Maybe I had made a huge mistake when I started messing around with Mike. Maybe we just needed some time apart from each other and things would have worked itself out. It would have been a lot less stressful on me if I had just said I needed a break to think instead of running around with Mike.

He kissed the side of my head and I felt tears start to sting in my eyes. After everything that happened, he could still be gentle with me; he's either the perfect man or he's up to something. For both of our sakes, I hope he's being genuine. "I'm sorry, Randy...really, really sorry for everything that happened."

"I know, baby. We'll talk about it in the morning. You must have had a long day. Why don't you try and get some sleep?"

"Will you stay here with me tonight? I don't want to be alone." He nodded and leaned over and turned the bedside lamp off. In the dark I drifted off to sleep within a few minutes; apparently the long travel day and long night of revelations was taking their toll on me. I awoke a few hours later to the sound of my cell phone ringing. I must have mumbled for Randy to answer it, because he untangled his arms from around me and let me lay down while he got off the bed to answer the phone.

_**Phone call**_

"Hello."

"Who the hell is this?"

"Randy. Who is this?"

"Jessalinn's father. Why are you answering her phone, douche bag?"

Randy sighs. "Always nice to hear from you too, Steve. Would you like me to wake up Linn?"

"What? Why is she sleeping and why the hell are you there? What are you up to, douche bag? Didn't she break up with your dumb ass to go out with that other dumb ass?"

"You always did have a way with words, Steve. For your information, we're working things out. Whether you like it or not; she's grown and can make her own decisions."

"Listen, you cocky son of a bitch, you keep your hands off of her and you tell my daughter to call me ASAP." Click.

"Randy...was that my dad?" I asked sleepily as he crawled back into bed with me.

"Yeah...you should call him later. He didn't sound too happy to talk to me just now." I rolled my eyes and snuggled in closer to him and tried to drift back to sleep.

"He'll get over it. Believe it or not, I think he might actually like you. Well, if not like you, he might be able to tolerate you."

Randy chuckled, "I'll take 'tolerate' over 'despise' any day."

_**Later That Morning**_

The next morning I woke up and Randy was still lying next to me. I was laying on my side and he was sleeping behind me with his strong arms wrapped around my waist. He must have felt me stir because he pushed some hair away from my ear, "Morning, baby..."

"Hey..." I mumbled back. I untangled myself from him and sat up, trying to recall why he was in my bed. Last night's loneliness came flooding back to me. Did I make the right decision? Are things going to be okay between us now?

"So. Are we going to talk about why you asked me to come here last night or are we just going to ignore it and go back to the way we've been acting towards each other lately?" he asked quietly as he looked around the room for his shoes. He put them on and sat back down on the bed.

"I don't know why I asked you to come here last night. I guess I'm starting to realize what a bitch I've been and that..." I couldn't bring myself to say it. I couldn't bring myself to say that I wanted him back, because I still wasn't sure if that's what I really wanted deep down inside. "I'm just really sorry, Randy. I never wanted to hurt you; I should have talked to you instead of running around with…him."

"Linn, you should just admit to yourself that you made a mistake. I know you're sorry...I want you back. After everything that we've gone through, I still want you back. I'll put up with your crazy father and your over protective sisters, I'll put up with whatever you're going through right now. I can't...I can't lose you," he pleaded. In all of the years that we had been together, I had never seen him plead with me. He's always been very headstrong and confident in getting what he wants. This was a completely different side of Randy that I hadn't seen before. Abby was right; he was willing to lay it all out on the line for me and I would be a fool to turn him away. I leaned closer to him, and instead of speaking, I just kissed him softly on the lips. As I pulled away, a smile formed on his face. "Still love me?" he whispered as he pushed some hair out of my face.

I nodded. "Yeah, still love you..." And I did. I'm pretty sure that I did still love him.

"Good…..I knew you'd come around eventually….." He did? He put up with all of this bullshit because in the end he knew I was just going to end up giving into him?

I just nodded and let him pull me closer to him. "We need to talk about what's going to happen on Sunday with the match between me and Mizanin."

"Do we have to?"

"Yes. This match is happening because of you; and you're still stuck in the middle. It doesn't matter if me and you are back together, I still have to be in this match with him and you still have to referee it."

"I'm not doing it," I said softly as I pulled away from him and pulled my knees up to my chest.

"Baby, you have to do it; Vince will fire you otherwise," he said gruffly.

"No. I don't. I already talked to Vince. He gave me a pass and he found a new referee."

"Who?" I knew he wasn't going to like it when I told him.

"My dad."

Silence. "Are you fucking serious? Is that why he called you last night?" He got off the bed and stared at me.

"I don't know why he called last night; he was probably just telling me that he had gotten into town or something. Or maybe he needed someone to make him a sandwich; who the hell knows with him. Before you get all upset, it wasn't my idea to have dad ref the match. I didn't want anything to do with it from the beginning. Vince should have never put me in that position—"

"But he did, Linn. He did because we're fighting over **you**. You are the reason this whole match is happening. Do you think I want to be in an 'I Quit' match? Those matches are brutal!"

"I'm sorry, Randy! I don't know what else you want me to say! This is completely out of my hands; Vince is the boss, and he made the match."

"Whose idea was it to bring in your old man?" he growled at me.

"Not mine, it was Vince's."

"Tell me the truth; is he going to even give me a fair chance at winning this match?"

I couldn't answer him; because I honestly didn't know if my dad was going to be able to play nice tomorrow night. Past experiences will tell us that it's not likely that he'll call the match down the middle for Randy or Mike. One of them will just have to quit.


	23. Plan B

**A/N: Much thanks for the reviews. Were you surprised that they got back together in the last chapter? Keep reading, it gets better!**

**Chapter 23**

"Answer me, Linn. Is your old man even going to give me a chance to win this match or is he gonna screw me?" Randy asked me again. I still didn't know what to tell him. I hopped off the bed and headed towards my suitcase. While I was digging through the suitcase looking for something to wear, he came up behind me and placed his big hands on my hips. "I need an answer, Linn. Do you know something that I should know?"

I closed my eyes, "I don't know what he plans on doing, Randy. Surely you must understand that he's not happy with either of us right now. He could go either way; he could call it straight down the middle or he could try and screw you or Mike. It's hard to tell with him sometimes."

Randy was silent for a few minutes. I couldn't move away from him because his hands were still on my hips. My head was spinning; everything was happening so fast. We had gotten back together this morning. After being unhappy with him for almost a year, and then running away from him for two or three months, I'm back together with him? It sounds messed up even to me. I sure as hell hoped I knew what I was getting myself into.

"Get dressed. We'll get some breakfast. You look like hell; have you been eating?" he asked softly as he pulled away from me.

I shook my head. Did I really look that bad? I hadn't been taking care of myself, but I didn't think it was obvious to anyone besides me. I got dressed quickly in a pair of blue jeans and a Austin 3:16 shirt. Randy glared at me when I came out of the bathroom wearing that. I rolled my eyes and mumbled for him to get over it.

"What did you say?" he asked sharply.

"Nothing…" I felt my face turning red. I knew it was going to be awkward if and when we ever got back together, but I guess I wasn't really prepared for the awkwardness right now. I let him take my hand and lead me down the hallway to the elevator. I seriously wanted to turn around and run the other way or take the stairs when I saw who else was waiting for the elevator we were going to get in to. Mike.

"What the hell….." he grumbled as he saw me and Randy approach the elevator hand in hand.

"Get used to it, Mizanin. We're back together. But don't worry; I'll still beat the hell out of you tomorrow night," Randy growled with a sick smirk on his face. Mike's mouth dropped as he looked at me and saw that I wasn't denying anything that Randy was saying. He opened his mouth like he was going to say something to me, but closed it again and shook his head and started to walk away from us and towards the stairs. He looked back at me once and I caught his dazzling blue eyes; they looked hurt…..

**Mike's POV**

This couldn't be happening. This really could **not** be happening right now. My plan just went out the window the second I saw Linn and Orton holding hands by the elevator. That son of a bitch had talked her into getting back together with him. What the hell was I going to do now? There was no way I was going to be able to win the match tomorrow night if they're back together; I had a funny feeling now that the WWE's favorite bad boy and the highly popular General Manager were back together, that I was on my way back to the middle of the roster. I couldn't let that happen.

Ever since they had broken up, my heat had gone up; I was in main event matches at every show. I was on my way to the top. But once again, Randy Orton had to ruin it all for me again. I made it back to my hotel room to think about how I was going to break them up again before tomorrow night. I didn't have much time so I had to think fast. A brilliant idea came to me when I remembered what kind of shirt she was wearing this morning. A Stone Cold Steve Austin shirt. A satisfied smirk formed on my face as I thought about an unlikely ally that I had in this whole situation. I think it was time that I go and introduce myself to Daddy dearest…..

An hour later I had found out what room Steve Austin was in; I had to do some smooth talking to Kait Austin, but she eventually told me. She had no idea that her baby sister and Orton had gotten back together yet. I needed to work fast. I made my way up to the tenth floor and found room 1012.

I hesitated before I knocked; I took a deep breath and reminded myself that I needed to do this in order to further my career. It was the only way I was going to get back in Linn's good graces. I knocked softly. Nothing. I knocked a little bit louder and the door swung open very quickly and suddenly I was face to face with the legend himself: The Texas Rattlesnake.

"Who the hell are you and what the hell do you want?" he growled at me as he looked me up and down trying to figure out who the hell I was.

"Mike Mizanin," I said as I stuck my hand out to shake his. He looked down at my offer and then looked back at me.

"What the hell do you want?" he growled.

"I want to talk to you."

"About what. Spit it out, son, I ain't got all day to be standing here talking to you. I got shit to do."

"I want to talk to you about your daughter."

He sighed. "I got six daughters; which one are you talking about?"

"Linn."

He stopped glaring at me. "What did you say your first name was?"

"Mike."

"Mike…as in the Mike that broke up Linny and douche bag?"

"The one in the same. Can I come and talk to you?" I smiled. I knew this was going to be a great idea. I knew he hated Orton. Who could blame the guy? I hated him too.

He moved away from the door and let me come in. I followed him in and saw a very pretty blonde sitting at the table. This must be his wife?

"Debra. This is Mike. This is the one that broke up Linny and douche bag."

"Well, actually, Steve, they're back together. I just saw them this morning holding hands," I said sadly, like it pained me to see that little bitch and that asshole together. I could care less; what I did care about though, was that she was making me look like a fool.

"They what?" he shouted.

"Steve, keep your voice down," Debra drawled. "Mike, have a seat. What do you mean they're back together? Abby said it didn't sound like she was going to give him another chance," she said softly as she watched her husband sit down next to me.

"It's true. We had a little argument the other night, and the next thing I know Orton's back in the picture. I thought she really like me. I mean, I know it was pretty shitty about how I got together with her in the first place; but she was so unhappy with him. I was just trying to make her happy," I said sadly. I said this while looking at Debra; I was laying it on thick, and I knew she was eating it up. I looked over at Steve; I couldn't read him yet.

"I don't know what she sees in him. I never understood it. The guy's an asshole; she can do much better, but for the last six years she's insisted on being with the douche bag. What does a father do? Abby says I need to let her make her own decisions; Debra here says for me to keep my nose out of it. I say that that's my little girl and she's making a damn mistake!" he growled as he brought his fist down on the table. I could see the anger in his eyes; I had him exactly where I wanted him.

"Well…I have this match with Orton tomorrow night at Summer Slam-"

"Yeah, I know. I'm the damn ref."

What? "Really? I thought Linn was going to do that."

"Vince took her out of it because he wants to keep her on the payroll; I'm gonna ref."

"Huh. Well, I mean, wow, that's great! It will be an honor to be in the ring with a legend such as yourself…"

"Quit sucking up, you son of a bitch, what do you want?"

"I'll make a deal with you. I'll beat the hell out of Orton and then she'll see what a loser he is when he screams 'I quit' and then she'll break up with him again."

"I like the sound of that—beating the hell out of Orton. What do you want from me though?"

"Since you're the ref, you get to make all the critical decisions in the match, right? You simply sway my way a little bit and I'll make sure Orton quit. She'll leave him, get back together with me, and we can both laugh at Orton while he's lying in the middle of the ring unconscious! It will be great! Orton loses the belt and Linn ditches him."

"Steve. I don't think this is a good idea. I think you should do what Vince asked you to do, and call the match down the middle," Debra interjected.

"Quiet, Debra. Let me think about this; we're talking about Linn here. I don't want her with that douche bag anymore. I've told her a million times I don't like him, but what does she do? She keeps getting back together with him."

Debra shot him a glare that even I recognized as her silently saying that they needed to talk about this before he promised me anything. "Tell you what, Steve, why don't you think about it, and uh, get back to me tomorrow or even later tonight and we can take it from there."

I stood up and started to walk towards the door, a smirk on my face. Things were going to start going my way again. Poor, poor Jessalinn…


	24. Who is Cory?

**Chapter 24**

It was hard to ignore the curious glances I kept getting from our co-workers at the hotel café when they saw us walk in together. The entire locker room, and most of the corporate office, had heard about what had been going on between us over the last few weeks and months. I didn't blame them for being curious; hell, I'd be curious too if saw us together again, hand in hand.

I sat down across from Randy at a small corner booth. "What's the matter," he asked gruffly as he looked over the menu, not even bothering to look at me when he was talking to me.

"Everyone is staring at us," I whispered.

"Ignore it," he simply said.

"It's kind of hard, Randy. I think….I think we should go back to the room and order room service or go somewhere else," I managed to stutter out.

He sighed in frustration at my lack of confidence right now. "No. I'll handle it," he said gruffly as he stood up and turned toward a table of co-workers who had been staring and whispering at us. Maryse, Ted, Phil (CM Punk), Beth, John Morrison, and Melina watched in horror as Randy sauntered over to their table and leaned down, placing his hands on the table. "Is there a reason you all are staring at us right now? Can we help you with something?" he growled.

Ted knew from his days in Legacy with Randy, that the best way to avoid getting on Randy's bad side was to just let him rant and growl and not say anything. Unfortunately, Phil didn't know that. "Yeah, actually, you probably could help up clear something up."

Randy turned his attention to Phil. "And what would that be….Punk?"

"What the hell just happened? I mean, are you two back together now? Because, if you two are making up and getting back together, the least you could do is to let the rumor mill know so we don't have to speculate," Phil said with a cocky smirk. "Or, the other thing you could clarify with us is if you two are back together, does this mean you get to keep your belt tomorrow night?"

Randy stood up and glared down at Punk. "I suggest that you mind your own business. My relationship with Linn has nothing to do with my champion status," he growled as he started to walk back to me at our table. I was shocked; I watched in horror as Phil stood up himself and hollered back to Randy, "Yeah, right, Orton. We all know that the only reason you took her back last night was so that you would have a chance at winning tomorrow night. Unfortunately for you, however, daddy dearest is the ref and we all know how much he cares for you. You might as well kiss that belt good bye, or better yet, just hand it over to Mizanin now."

Before anyone knew what was happening, Randy had speared Phil across the table, causing the table to crack in the middle and both men were on the floor of the café, wrestling with each other and throwing punches. "Randy!" I screamed as I ran over to where the men were fighting; I was about to try and pull Randy up by the shoulders to get him to stop wailing on Phil, but Ted beat me to it.

Ted pulled Randy up by the shoulders and shoved him towards me. The cold look in Randy's eyes terrified me as he grabbed me by the arm and dragged me out of the café. "Randy, stop."

He stopped dragging me and looked down at me. "What?"

"What do you mean 'what'? What the hell just happened? Why did you start beating on Phil like that?"

"I don't like him."

I sighed in frustration; through the years I've learned to deal with Randy's stubborn tendencies. It never got easier as time went on. "Why did you do that?"

"Because he and everyone else here seem to think that the only reason I tried so hard to get back together with you, was because I'm afraid of losing the belt." He cupped my face in his hands, "You know that's not true, right, baby?" he said softly as his steel blue eyes searched mine.

I nodded. "I know. Don't worry about them. We need to worry about ourselves right now. Let's go out for breakfast." I snuggled up closer to him and rested my head on his chest. I heard him sigh and mumble something like 'fine, let's go'.

We went out for breakfast at a local Denny's and slowly, very slowly, started falling back into our old routine and relationship. While at the time I found it stifling, right now I found it comforting. I was a little bit worried, however, that I knew my dad was in town, but he hadn't tried calling me after Randy answered my phone the first time he called. Instead of heading back to the hotel, we found a shopping mall and we were just about to head in to buy me a new outfit for tomorrow night's big event.

As if he knew I was thinking about him, my phone rang. The caller id said 'dad' so I hesitated to answer it in front of Randy. "Go ahead and take the call. I'll be right back," he mumbled before heading over to the men's room. I sighed and picked up the call.

"Hello."

"Jessalinn. This is your father. Where are you?"

"At the mall."

"With Kait?" he sounded hopeful. I had a bad feeling that he had heard about me and Randy getting back together.

"No…."

"Who?"

"Randy," I whispered.

"Damn it, Jessalinn. Why? After everything that's happened, why did you take that douche bag back?"

"Dad, stop. Is this the only reason that you called? To berate me about going out with Randy again?"

"Actually no. I called to see if I could actually see my youngest daughter while we were in the same city. Your stepmama and I are staying in the same hotel you are this weekend. We're meeting Kaity and her boyfriend Cory for dinner tonight."

I held back a giggle. Kait and Cody had been dating for three years now, and dad still calls him Cory. Cody knows better than to correct him. "That sounds nice. What time?"

"Hell, if I know. You know Debra arranges all these things; I just show up."

I sighed. "All right. Have Debra call me later?"

Randy came out of the men's room and we started walking to a store. "What did he want," he asked quietly.

"We're going out to dinner with him, Debra, Kait and Cory tonight."

"Who the hell is Cory?"

"Cody."

He chuckled, "That's right. He's been calling him that for years and Runnels doesn't have enough guts to correct him."

I smiled as I remembered back to the first family event Kait brought Cody to; what a night.

**Mike's POV**

Steve had called me and let me know that he was coming down to see me in a few minutes and that I had better be up and ready. I rolled my eyes; the one good thing about not being with Linn is that I wouldn't have to put up with her asshole of a father all the time.

A few minutes later there was a hard knock on the door. I opened the door and let him in; he stomped through the room and sat down in a chair. "I'm in. Debra's screaming at me that I should just let it be; but I can't. I hate that douche bag and don't want him anywhere near my daughter anymore. Now, you're sure that if I help you beat him, Linny's gonna ditch him and stop seeing him?"

I had no idea; all I was worried about was beating Orton tomorrow night and getting the championship. I would worry about her later. I was going to get back at her for making me look like a fool in front of everyone. I had an idea, but I would fine tune it later.

"Pretty damn sure. She only likes to go out with winners. I'll beat Orton so bad; she'll never look at him the same way again. All you gotta do is make sure that everyone hears him say 'I quit'. I've got a couple of good ideas on how to rig that by the way. We'll go over that later."

"Sounds like a plan. We're going to dinner with her and her sister tonight. Kaity's bringing her boyfriend, Cory I think his name is, anyway, why don't you meet us down there too? Maybe I can convince her to dump Orton quicker than tomorrow night. You don't seem like a bad guy, kid."

Wow. Was that a compliment from Stone Cold? I would gloat about that later; right now I had to work on figuring out how to turn Linn against Orton quickly. "I'd love to. I'll see you tonight?" I said as I walked Steve to the door. I shook his hand before he left. I closed to door behind him, and found myself smiling. Things were falling into place for me. Linn would regret ever making me look like a fool.


	25. Unexpected Dinner Guest

**Chapter 25**

**Linn's POV**

"Randy, come on, we're going to be late!" I shouted through the bathroom door. We were supposed to meet my dad for dinner at the hotel restaurant in ten minutes and Randy was taking his sweet time getting ready. I knew he didn't want to go tonight, which was why he was stalling. I mean honestly, what man needs forty five minutes to shave and comb his hair?

He finally came out of the bathroom, looking very unhappy. "What's the matter?" I asked as I fastened my earring.

"I don't want to do this. Your dad hates me," he said simply.

"Please do this for me, Randy?" I whispered. It had been a long hard road for us to get back together and I needed him to at least make an effort to get along with my dad, no matter how difficult the man made it sometimes to love him.

"I'd do anything for you..." he whispered back as he pulled me close to him. "Anything, Linn...you know that."

"Then please be nice to my dad tonight?" I whispered as laid my head on his chest.

"Fine," he finally agreed.

.

.

.

We made it across the city to the restaurant we were meeting my dad at in record time, much to Randy's displeasure. I knew he said that he would do anything for me, but he was still dragging his feet in spending time with my dad, especially since my dad would be the ref in the match tomorrow night.

We walked in and the hostess showed us to a private room that they had set up for my dad tonight. There were definite advantages to being related to the legendary Stone Cold Steve Austin. Hand in hand we walked into the private room until I saw an unexpected dinner guest and I swear I was going to have a heart attack right then and there. I wasn't sure if I should be polite, greet everyone and sit down and ignore him, or if I should run like hell. I felt Randy stiffen up beside me and he growled softly in my ear, "What the hell is he doing here?" I looked at him with fearful eyes, I had no idea why the hell he was here.

"Linny! Come give your daddy a hug," my dad said loudly with a big smile on his face as he crossed the room and pulled me into one of his enormous bear hugs. I mumbled into his chest, "Dad, what the fuck is Mike doing here?"

He pulled away from me and took a second to glare at Randy before he pulled me out of the private room. "I invited him," dad said simply.

He did what? "Um. Why the hell would you do that?"

"I like him."

"But, dad-"

"Jessalinn, I invited him. That young man actually sought me out and told me how much he had liked you and that he only had the best of intentions with you, unlike that douche bag Orton."

"Dad-"

"Stop interrupting your father. He's a nice young man who has a bright future ahead of him, and he seems to like you a lot."

"So does Randy. In fact, we got back together-"

"I don't want to hear about Orton. I thought that after everything that had happened lately, you would have just let him go and moved on with your life. You wasted six years of your life on him, why would want to waste more of your life with him is beyond me. Let's go back in there, sit down nicely and have a nice dinner together," dad said gruffly before he turned away from me and stomped back into the private room. This was not going to end well for me. Just when things had finally started to turn around, shit like this happens.

.

.

I let out a groan when I walked back into the room and saw Mike and Randy staring each other down. I placed my hand on Randy's arm and whispered, "Settle," to him. He broke his staring contest from Mike and turned to me, nodded and took my hand. We sat down at the other end of the table, as far away from Mike as we possibly could.

Throughout dinner, I watched in mixed horror and fascination as my dad sat next to Mike and had the greatest time ever. He and Mike were laughing together, telling stories and acting like they had known each other for years and were best friends. I've never seen my dad act this way with a guy my age except for my brother in laws, and even that had taken years for them to finally get accepted like this. Mike just met my dad and had already been accepted.

I could tell that the interactions between my dad and my former lover were starting to grate on Randy's nerves. He stiffened up anytime that my dad called Mike 'son'. I knew why it was bothering him; Randy and I had been together for six years and never once did my dad call him anything but douche bag. Well, on Christmas one year, my dad slipped and called him Randy, but that was an isolated incident and my dad quickly covered it up by calling him an asshole.

As the night wore on, and we finished dinner, Randy was absorbed in a conversation with Cody, I told Randy I was going up to the bar to get a beer. He nodded and asked that I grab him one too. I stood alone at the bar for a few minutes when I felt someone behind me. I reluctantly turned around and came face to face with Mike. "What do you want," I asked softly as I paid for the two beers and was about to head back to the table when Mike caught my arm.

"You. This isn't over between us, it can't be over," he said softly.

"Mike...I made a mistake when I started messing around with you; I shouldn't have done that, I should have just said no and stayed with Randy. Whatever me and you had, it's over now..." I was going to walk away but he still had a firm grip on my arm.

"It's not over, Linn. It can't be. I really like you, I don't want it to be over. I thought me and you were getting along really well, and then all of the sudden you turn away from me and decide that you want to be with Orton again? Doesn't make sense, babe. What's going on with you?"

I sighed. I knew eventually that I would have to deal with Mike the same way I had had to deal with Randy. "It was a mistake-"

"No, it wasn't. I was obviously giving you something that he wasn't. Now the tables have changed again. What is he giving you that I'm not? I thought we had something really good going on..." he trailed off as he reached over and started fingering a lock of my hair.

"Back the fuck up," I heard someone growl behind me. I turned and saw Randy standing there with his blue eyes blazing with anger. Mike smirked at him and moved away from me, his hands raised in defeat.

"I'll back off now, Orton, but when I make you say I quit tomorrow night, she'll be running back to me," he said gruffly before he leaned down and kissed me on the cheek. "See you later, Linn. I look forward to the drunken phone call or text that we both know you'll make once I beat Orton tomorrow night." He winked at me and walked away, brushing shoulders with Randy before he made his way out of the restaurant.

"What the hell was that?" Randy asked me.

"No idea."

"Bullshit. Tell me what he said."

"He didn't say anything."

"Why do I have a hard time believing you?"

I rolled my eyes. "Believe whatever you want. I don't care. I told him that it was over between me and him and that I was back together with you. Whether or not you believe me, is up to you," I said before I walked away and went back into the private room to sit next to my stepmom.

**The Next Day**

I was sitting in Randy's dressing room with him, watching him get warmed up for his big match. I looked over at the bench and saw his champion title sitting there. Once again, I was conflicted. What if everyone was right? What if the only reason Randy agreed to get back together with me was because he wanted to hold onto his title?

A stagehand stuck his head into Randy's room and told him that he had ten minutes before he was scheduled to go out. I walked with him through the packed hallways of the arena, people were staring at us again. I'm sure everyone had been talking about what had been going on the last few days and were wondering what kind of direction my relationship with Randy would take if he lost tonight. I'm sure they all thought that I was a horrible person and would ditch him and hook back up with Mike. They were so wrong it wasn't even funny.

We stood in the gorilla, waiting for Randy's music to hit. A few minutes later, his familiar music started blaring through the arena. He leaned down and kissed me hard on the mouth. I whispered, "be safe" before he winked at me and took off through the curtain. The only thing left for me to do right now was to sit and watch. And hope that my dad could put his personal feelings aside and would call the match down the middle. Somehow I had a funny feeling that wasn't going to happen tonight.


	26. Lost Everything

**Chapter 26**

I wasn't going down to ring-side for Randy's match; we had both agreed late last night that it would safer for me to stay in the back. I knew what he was really saying, though; he didn't want to risk the chance of me distracting my dad from calling the match down the middle, something that wouldn't happen if dad saw me there. Randy was convinced that my dad had it out for him today. Maybe he was right, maybe he was wrong. Who the hell knows with him? I was starting to feel like I didn't know my dad as well as I did; not since he invited Mike to our family dinner the other night and acted like he was the son that he never had. Why couldn't he accept Randy like that?

I was just about to go find Kait and sit and watch the match with her on a monitor when someone grabbed me from behind. I screamed and whoever had grabbed me hissed "shhhh" in my ear. I turned around and slapped him on the shoulder. It was Mike. "What the hell are you doing?" I growled at him. "You scared me."

"Sorry, baby. I didn't mean to do that," he whispered as his bright blue eyes looked me up and down. "You like nice tonight," he said with a smirk on his face. "You didn't have to get dressed up for me for when I win the title tonight; although I do appreciate the effort." I knew he was referring to my little black dress and heels. I sure as hell did not get dressed up for him; I did it for Randy. I was really trying to make an effort to get us back to where we were before I briefly lost my mind and threw away six years with him.

"Stop it," I mumbled, trying to move away from him. His big hand caught me by the arm before I could get away. "What do you want, Mike?"

"You...I want to know what happened between us, why did you suddenly turn away from me? Did I do something wrong? What did Orton promise you?"

I shook my head. "Now is not the time to talk about this, Mike. You have a match in five minutes; I suggest you start heading to the ring," I said sharply.

He chuckled. "Ah, pulling the boss card. I like it," he said. He licked his bottom lip, "How about a good luck kiss?" he murmured as he backed me up against the wall.

"No," I said softly as he kept coming at me. His mouth crashed down on mine and I struggled a little bit before I just gave in and let him kiss me; it was easier than fighting with him. He pulled away and smirked. "Thanks, baby. See ya later," he said as he winked at me and started towards the ring.

I fought the urge to let out a loud scream when someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around, eyes blazing with annoyance; it was just Kait. "What was that?" she asked softly as she led me down the hall to her locker room.

I sighed, "Just Mike being Mike," I mumbled as I took a seat down next to her.

"I see. What happened between you two?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "No idea. I just decided one day that I didn't want to be with him anymore. Something wasn't right."

"So, you decided that getting back together with Randy would just make Mike magically disappear?" she asked as she raised her eyebrow.

"Maybe," I whispered.

She shook her head. "Sometimes I wonder what goes on inside that pretty head of yours, Linn. I really wonder."

"What does that mean?" I asked defensively.

"I don't know, think about it for a second. You went out with Randy for like ever, then all of the sudden you decided you didn't love him anymore, so you hooked up with Mike. Then you decided that you didn't like Mike anymore, so you hooked back up with Randy; and now you're trying to act like everything is fine. Which, by the way, it is not."

"Everything **is** fine," I said through clenched teeth.

Kait let out a dry laugh. "Keep tell yourself that, honey. But it's not. I don't know how you think that by you and Randy getting back together that everything that happened between the three of you-"

"Stop!" I interrupted her. "I don't want to hear about it anymore. Shit, just. Ugh!" I stuttered as I stomped away from my sister. I did not want to deal with this right now.

.

.

.

I watched Randy and Mike's match on a monitor in a deserted room. I could barely stand to watch what I was seeing; these two were beating the hell out of each other, but neither one was going to say 'I quit'. I cringed when I saw Randy hit Mike in the back with a kendo stick. Dad was doing his part as the referee and asked Mike if he wanted to quit; Mike shook his head no which further infuriated Randy.

Randy continued to take his rage out on Mike and pulled him out of the ring and started waling on him with a steel chair. After the second or third hit my dad did the unexpected; he grabbed the chair from Randy as he was pulling back to hit Mike again. Randy turned around just in time for my dad to hit him right in the face with the chair!

This was not going to happen, not now, I couldn't let my dad's personal feelings get in the way of Randy retaining his title. I had to do something...

.

.

.

I made it down to the ring as fast as I could on three inch heels; I made it just in time to hear someone's voice over the sound system shout "I quit!" and then the bell rang. This wasn't happening, it couldn't be happening like this. My dad was raising Mike's hand in victory and handing him the championship title.

I started screaming at my dad, trying to figure out what happened, but he couldn't hear me over the sound of Mike's music. "He said it, Linn! He said 'I quit!'. That's just something that you're going to have to deal with!" he shouted at me before he turned away from me and raised Mike's hand in victory again.

I was in shock. Mike had won. Randy had quit. And my dad was the reason that this all happened. I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned around and was met with the steel cold blue eyes of an angry viper. "You bitch...you fucking set me up!" he growled at me. I took a step back; I knew that look, I knew what was coming, I closed my eyes in anticipation of the pain. Before Randy's hand could connect with my cheek someone stepped in front of me and took the shot for me. I opened my eyes and saw that Mike was on top of Randy beating the hell out of him.

Dad pulled me away from the two fighting men. "Go back to the locker room, Linny. I'll take care of this," he said softly in my ear. I pulled away from my dad and glared at him.

"You're going to take care of this? Just like you took care of reffing the match right down the middle!" I screeched at him, completely ignoring the fact that this argument with my father was not only happening in front of like 90,000 people, but it was also being broadcast on pay-per-view.

I was going to lose my job.


	27. Is This the End?

**Chapter 27**

**Linn's POV**

It's been thirty two days since SummerSlam. Thirty two days since my own father betrayed me in front of 90,000 people. Thirty two days since Randy was screwed over by my dad and screamed at me in front of everyone; claiming that I set him up. It's been thirty two days since Vince McMahon called me on my cell phone as I watched not only my personal life, but my professional life, crumble down around me. I had exactly twelve hours to be in Stamford and in his office to face the consequences of tonight's pay-per-view results.

.

.

_**Mr. McMahon's Office – Day after SummerSlam**_

_I sat in a chair in front of Vince's desk, watching him pace back and forth, stopping periodically to look at me, shake his head, and then start pacing again. "Miss Austin, I don't even know what to say right now. I thought it was clear after the last….incident involving you, Mr. Mizanin and Mr. Orton, there weren't going to be any more public incidents like this. Not on company time; what the three of you do in your personal lives is none of my concern. But when it starts interfering with business, like it did last night, then it becomes one of my top concerns."_

_I nodded, knowing that I was in deep shit and wouldn't be surprised if I was 'future endeavored' this morning. _

"_I'm suspending you, Miss Austin. I don't want to lose the value you bring to this company, but at the same time, this was your second chance. You're suspended for thirty days, and after you complete the stipulations and take some time off to really think about where your professional life is going, we would love to have you come back," he ended gently as he sat down in his leather chair and looked at me, trying to gauge my reaction. "I know we tried this before, but I honestly think that you came back too early form your last…..break. This is your last chance."_

"_I understand. I do want to apologize again for what happened last night…" I said softly, ashamed that everything that happened last night was because of me; because I couldn't figure out what I wanted from life. "What are the stipulations?" I asked; thankful that I would be able to keep my job, but afraid that I was going to have to do to keep it._

_Vince sighed, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I think it would be a good idea for you to see a therapist; to sort some of your problems out. I understand your oldest sister is a therapist, but perhaps she's not seeing what everyone else is seeing here Miss Austin. You have some problems, emotional problems; problems with drinking….We're worried about you. You're a very bright, smart, and business savvy young woman, but you seem to be confused…."_

**Present Time**

Confused? Hell yeah I was confused. I cheated on the man I had been dating for six years with someone who obviously had bad intentions with me. That's right, I knew about Mike. I knew that the only reason he hooked up with me in the first place was to try and destroy Randy. How did I find out?

.

.

_**The Day After SummerSlam**_

_I left the ring in tears. My dad had just betrayed me in front of tens of thousands of people, and millions watching at home. Not only did he betray me, he single handedly cost Randy the title. I didn't even want to deal with Randy right now. I knew he was pissed at me, and he had every right to be. But surely he must know somehow that I had nothing to do with him getting screwed over by my dad tonight. Right?_

_I managed to make it to my make-shift office and grabbed my stuff without running into anyone. I was just about to dash down the hall and get the hell out of the arena, when someone grabbed me from behind by the hips and pulled me back towards them. I tried to let out a scream, but it was muffled, because who ever had grabbed me had placed their hand over my mouth and hissed in my ear. "Shut the hell up, Linn." I still had no idea who had grabbed me, and whoever it was meant business. I was dragged backwards down the hall and I heard a door open and then my captor pushed me inside the room. Before I knew what was happening, I was face to face with a very angry Mike. He pushed me against the door and put his hands on either side of my shoulders to keep me from running away from him._

"_You couldn't just stay in the back, could you, Linn? You had to come down to the ring and ruin my big moment, didn't you? This isn't about you. And it isn't about Orton. Tonight is supposed to be all about __**me**__ and the beginning of my title run," he snarled at me. His blue eyes were dark with anger and annoyance. I couldn't speak; I couldn't force myself to say anything. I had to remind myself to breathe._

"_What the hell are you talking about?" I managed to squeak out._

_He threw his head back and laughed. "I suppose I could tell you now. I used you, Linn," he let this sink in before he continued. "I fucking used you. Do you think that unless I picked an actual fight with Orton that I would get a title shot? No, I wouldn't. I knew that you were the one thing in his life that he would fight, hell he would die for. So I used that against him. The best way to beat your opponent? Get him where it hurts."_

"_You asshole….." I growled. "You ruined the best relationship—"_

"_Oh come off it, Linn! You weren't happy with him to begin with. You were practically begging for someone to take you away from him. Don't you see, this worked out for both of us; you got away from Orton, and I got my title match…." _

**Present**

For the past month, Randy has refused to take my calls. I don't blame him; he was right. I basically threw our relationship in the garbage. If the roles had been reversed in this whole mess, there would be no way in hell that I would talk to him either.

I'm going back to work tomorrow afternoon. Tonight, I'm catching a flight to St. Louis. Am I all right with this? No. I'm never going to be all right with how everything turned out. I fucked up big time. I broke Randy's heart and turned him into a monster. I was used; Mike used me to get what he wanted and then dropped me. I've been embarrassed in front of millions of people; my twisted love life shown on national television for the second time. Worst of all, my relationship with my father is ruined. Is it ruined forever? I don't know; I hope not. But right now, I can't forgive him. No matter how many times he calls and apologizes, no matter how many times he stops by and stands outside my front door, begging for my forgiveness. No matter how many of my sisters he sends over or has them call me; I can't forgive him. Will I forgive him someday? Maybe. I don't know. Like a lot of things in life, I don't know what's going to happen next.

It's funny, not really, sometimes. I think back to my first day on the job; fresh out of college with a shiny new MBA, ready to kick ass and take names in the highly competitive business of sports entertainment. I was introduced to Randy and immediately smitten by him. Was meeting Randy the beginning of my demise? Flash forward six and a half years later and everything that I worked so hard for is slipping away from me.

Is this the end of my story? Highly doubtful. I don't believe it's really over until you give up. And I'm not one for giving up.

_**To be continued….**_

**A/N So, that's the end. Probably not the greatest ending I've ever written, but I wanted to leave it open enough for another story. Thanks for reading, feel free to leave feedback. **


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